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2767  Fair»ou»t  AT«., 
La  Cr«sc*»i», 


NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 


,v. 

2767  FairmotiPt  Ave 
Ore 


By  LOUIS  TRACY 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING 
THE  CAPTAIN  OF  THE  KANSAS 
THE  WHEEL  O'  FORTUNE 
A  SON  OF  THE  IMMORTALS 
CYNTHIA'S  CHAUFFEUR 
THE  MESSAGE 
THE  STOWAWAY 
THE  PILLAR  OF  LIGHT 
THE  SILENT  BARRIER 
THE  "MIND  THE  PAINT"  GIRL 
ONE  WONDERFUL  NIGHT 
THE  TERMS  OF  SURRENDER 
FLOWER  OF  THE  GORSE 
THE  RED  YEAR 
THE  GREAT  MOGUL 
MIRABEL'S  ISLAND 
THE  DAY  OF  WRATH 
HIS  UNKNOWN  WIFE 
THE  POSTMASTERS  DAUGHTER 
THE  REVELLERS 
DIANA  OP  THE  MOORLAND 
NUMBEU  SEVENTEEN 


Number  Seventeen 


BY 
LOUIS  TRACY 

Author  of 

"The  Wings  of  the  Morning,"  "  Diana  of  the 
Moorland,"  etc.,  etc. 


NEW  YORK 
EDWARD  J.  CLODE 


SRLF 
URU 


COPTHIUHT,    1915,   BT 

LOUIS  TRACY 

COPYRIGHT,  1919,  BT 
EDWARD   J.    CLODE 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  'Of  AJUEBICA 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  OUTCOME   OF   AUTISTIC   CURIOSITY 


T 


AXI,    sir!    Yes,    sir.    No.    4   will   be 


yours." 


A  red-faced,  loud-breathing  com- 
missionaire, engaged  in  the  lucrative  task  of 
pocketing  sixpences  as  quickly  as  he  could  sum- 
mon cabs,  vanished  in  a  swirl  of  mackintoshes 
and  umbrellas. 

People  who  had  arrived  at  the  theater  in 
fine  weather  were  emerging  into  a  drizzle  of 
rain.  "All  London,"  as  the  phrase  goes,  was 
flocking  to  see  the  latest  musical  comedy  at 
Daly's,  but  all  London,  regarded  thus  collect- 
ively, is  far  from  owning  motor  cars,  or  even 
affording  taxicabs,  so  the  majority  of  the  play- 
goers were  hurrying  on  foot  towards  tube  rail- 
ways and  omnibus  routes. 

Still,  a  popular  light  opera  could  hardly  fail 
to  draw  many  patrons  from  the  upper  ranks  of 
society,  and,  in  the  crush  »t  the  main  exit, 
Francis  Berrold  Theydon,  hesitating  whether 
to  walk  or  wait  the  hazard  of  a  cab,  deemed 
himself  fortunate  when  a  panting  commission- 
aire promised  to  secure  a  taxi  "in  half  a 
minute." 


2  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

Automobiles  of  every  known  variety  were 
snorting  up  to  the  curb  and  bustling  off  again 
as  promptly  as  their  users  could  enter  and 
bestow  themselves  in  dim  interiors.  Being  a 
considerate  person — wishful  also  to  light  a 
cigarette — Theydon  moved  out  of  the  way.  In 
so  doing,  he  was  cannoned  against  by  an  im- 
petuous footman,  whose  cry,  "Your  car,  sir," 
led  him  to  follow  the  man's  alert  eyes. 

He  saw  a  tall,  elderly  gentleman,  with  clean- 
shaven, shrewd,  and  highly  intelligent  fea- 
tures, of  the  type  which  finance,  or  the  law,  or 
a  combination  of  both,  seems  to  evolve  only  in 
big  cities,  escorting  a  young  lady  from  the 
vestibule.  Then  Theydon  remembered  that  he 
had  noticed  this  self-same  girl's  remarkable 
beauty  as  she  was  silhouetted  in  white  against 
the  dark  background  of  a  first-tier  box.  He 
had  even  speculated  idly  as  to  her  identity,  and 
had  come  to  the  conclusion,  on  catching  her 
face  in  profile,  that  she  must  be  the  daughter 
of  the  man  seated  by  her  side  but  half -hidden 
behind  a  heavy  curtain. 

The  likeness  was  momentarily  lost  now  while 
the  two  neared  him,  yet  discovered  anew  when 
they  halted  for  a  second  at  his  elbow.  Oddly 
enough,  the  man  was  carrying  an  umbrella, 
which  he  proceeded  to  open,  and  his  daughter's 
astonished  question  put  their  relationship  be- 
yond doubt. 

"Dad,"  she  said,  with  a  charming  smile  in 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY      3 

which  there  was  just  a  hint  of  a  pout,  "aren't 
you  coming  home  with  me?" 

"No.  I  must  look  in  at  the  Constitutional 
Club.  It's  only  a  step.  I'll  take  no  harm. 
This  sleet  looks  worse  than  it  is  when  every 
drop  shines  in  the  glare  of  so  many  lamps. 
Now,  in  with  you,  Evelyn!  Tell  Downs  to 
come  back,  and  don't  forget  which  club.  Any- 
how, I'll  tell  him  myself." 

"Shall  I  wait  up  for  you?" 

"Well— er— I  shan't  be  late.  I'll  be  free  by 
the  time  Downs  returns." 

"No.  4  taxi!"  came  a  voice,  and  Theydon 
saw  his  commissionaire  perched  on  the  step  of 
a  cab  swinging  in  deftly  behind  the  waiting  car. 
The  girl,  gazing  at  her  father,  happened  to 
look  for  an  instant  at  Theydon,  who,  fearful 
lest  his  candidly  admiring  glance  might  have 
been  a  trifle  too  sustained,  pretended  a  hur- 
ried interest  in  an  unlighted  cigarette.  That 
was  all.  The  three  crossed  the  pavement  al- 
most simultaneously. 

The  next  moment  the  unknown  goddess  was 
gone,  though  Theydon  snatched  a  final  glimpse 
of  her,  faintly  visible,  yet  no  less  radiantly 
lovely,  as  she  leaned  forward  from  the  depths 
of  the  limousine,  and  waved  a  white-gloved 
hand  to  her  father  through  a  window  jeweled 
with  raindrops. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  incident  to  provoke 
a  second  thought.  Assuredly,  Frank  Theydon 


4  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

— as  his  friends  called  him — was  not  the  only 
man  in  the  vestibule  of  Daly's  Theater  who 
had  found  the  girl  well  worth  looking  at,  and 
it  was  the  mere  accident  of  propinquity  which 
enabled  him  to  overhear  the  quite  commonplace 
remarks  of  father  and  daughter. 

A  score  of  similar  occurrences  had  probably 
taken  place  in  the  like  circumstances  that  night 
in  London,  and  the  maddest  dreamer  of  fan- 
tastic dreams  would  not  have  heard  the  flutter- 
ing wings  of  the  spirit  of  romance  in  con- 
nection with  any  one  of  them.  It  was  by  no 
means  marvelous,  therefore,  but  rather  in 
obedience  to  the  accepted  law  of  things  as  they 
are  when  contrasted  with  things  as  they  might 
be,  if  Theydon  both  failed  to  attach  any  impor- 
tance to  that  chance  meeting  and  proceeded 
forthwith  to  think  of  something  else. 

He  did  not  forget  it,  of  course.  His  artist's 
eyes  had  been  far  too  interested  in  a  certain 
rare  quality  of  delicate  femininity  in  the  girl's 
face  and  figure,  and  his  ear  too  quick  to  appre- 
ciate the  music  of  her  cultured  voice,  that  he 
should  not  be  able  to  recall  such  pleasant 
memories  later.  Indeed,  during  those  fleeting 
moments  on  the  threshold  of  the  theater,  he 
had  garnered  quite  a  number  of  minor  impres- 
sions, not  only  of  the  girl,  but  of  her  father. 

In  some  respects  they  were  singularly  alike. 
Thus,  each  had  the  same  proud,  self-reliant 
carriage,  the  same  large,  brilliant  eyes,  serene 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY      5 

brow  and  firm  mouth,  the  same  repose  of  man- 
ner, the  same  clear,  incisive  enunciation. 
Neither  could  move  in  any  company,  however 
eclectic,  without  evoking  comment. 

They  held  in  common  that  air  of  refinement 
and  good  breeding  which  is,  or  should  be,  the 
best-marked  attribute  of  an  aristocracy.  It 
was  impossible  to  imagine  either  in  rags,  but, 
given  such  a  transformation,  each  would  be 
notable  because  of  the  amazing  difference  that 
would  exist  between  garb  and  mien. 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  Theydon  in- 
dulged in  this  close  analysis  of  the  physical 
characteristics  of  two  complete  strangers  while 
his  cab  was  wheeling  into  the  scurry  of  traffic 
in  Cranbourn  Street.  Rather  did  he  essay  a 
third  time  to  light  the  cigarette  which  he  still 
held  between  his  lips.  And  yet  a  third  time 
was  his  intent  -balked. 

A  policeman  stopped  the  east-bound  stream 
of  vehicles  somewhat  suddenly  at  the  corner 
of  Charing  Cross  road;  owing  to  the  mud,  the 
taxi  skidded  a  few  feet  beyond  the  line ;  a  lamp 
was  torn  off  by  a  heavy  wagon  coming  south; 
and  a  fierce  argument  between  taxi  driver  and 
policeman  resulted  in  "numbers"  being  de- 
manded for  future  vengeance.  Then  Theydon 
took  a  hand  in  the  dispute,  poured  oil  on  the 
troubled  waters  by  tipping  the  policeman  half 
a  crown  and  the  driver  half  a  sovereign — these 
sums  being  his  private  estimate  of  damages  to 


6  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

dignity  and  lamp — and  the  journey  was  re- 
sumed, with  a  net  loss,  to  the  person  who  had 
absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  the  affair,  of 
twelve  and  sixpence  in  money  and  nearly  ten 
minutes  in  time. 

Theydon  was  not  rich,  as  shall  be  seen  in 
due  course,  but  he  was  generous  and  impul- 
sive. He  hated  the  notion  of  any  one  suffer- 
ing for  having  done  him  a  service,  and  the 
taxi  man  might  reasonably  be  deemed  a  real 
benefactor  on  that  sloppy  night. 

So  far  as  he  was  concerned,  the  delay  of  ten 
minutes  was  of  no  consequence.  It  only  meant 
a  slightly  deferred  snuggling  down  into  an 
easy  chair  in  his  flat  with  a  book  and  a  pipe. 
That  is  how  he  would  have  expressed  himself 
if  questioned  on  the  point.  In  reality  it  in- 
fluenced and  controlled  his  future  in  the  most 
vital  way,  because,  once  the  cab  had  crossed 
Oxford  Street  and  turned  into  the  quiet  thor- 
oughfare on  which  the  first  block  of  Innesmore 
Mansions  abutted,  he  passed  into  a  new  phase 
of  existence. 

The  cigarette,  lighted  at  last  after  the  alter- 
cation, had  filled  the  cab  with  smoke  to  such 
an  extent  that  Theydon  lowered  a  window.  At 
that  moment  the  driver  was  slowing  down  to 
take  the  corner  of  the  even  more  secluded  road 
which  contained  Innesmore  Mansions  and  the 
gardens  appertaining  thereto,  and  nothing 
else.  Necessarily,  Theydon  was  looking  out, 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY      7 

and  he  was  very  greatly  surprised  at  seeing  the 
unknown  gentleman  of  the  theater  walking 
rapidly  round  the  same  corner. 

He  could  not  be  mistaken.  The  stranger 
tilted  back  his  umbrella  and  raised  his  eyes  to 
ascertain  the  name  of  the  street,  as  though  he 
was  not  quite  sure  of  his  whereabouts,  and  the 
glare  of  a  lamp  fell  directly  on  his  clean-cut, 
almost  classical  face. 

Being  thus  occupied,  he  did  not  glance  at  the 
passing  cab,  or  recognition  might  possibly  have 
been  mutual — possibly,  though  not  probably, 
because,  during  that  brief  pause  on  the  steps  of 
the  theater,  he  stood  beside  Theydon;  hence, 
he  was  half-turned  toward  his  daughter  while 
they  were  discussing  the  night's  immediate 
program. 

In  itself  the  fact  that  he  had  gone  in  the 
direction  of  Innesmore  Mansions  rather  than 
toward  the  Constitutional  Club  was  in  nowise 
remarkable.  Nevertheless,  he  had  deceived 
his  daughter — deceived  her  intentionally,  and 
the  knowledge  came  as  a  shock  to  his  unsus- 
pected critic  in  Theydon. 

He  did  not  look  the  sort  of  man  who  would 
stoop  to  petty  evasion  of  the  truth.  It  was  as 
though  a  statue  of  Praxiteles,  miraculously 
gifted  with  life,  should  express  its  emotions, 
not  in  Attic  Greek,  but  in  the  up-to-date  slang 
of  the  Strand. 

"Well,    I'm    dashed!"    said    Theydon,    or 


8  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

words  to  that  effect,  and  his  cab  sped  on  to  the 
third  doorway.  Innesmore  Mansions  arranged 
its  roomy  flats  in  blocks  of  six,  and  he  occupied 
No.  18.  * 

He  held  a  florin  in  readiness;  the  rain,  now 
falling  heavily,  did  not  encourage  any  loiter- 
ing on  the  pavement.  For  all  that,  he  saw  out 
of  the  tail  of  his  eye  that  the  other  man  was 
approaching,  though  he  had  paused  to  examine 
the  numbers  blazoned  on  a  lamp  over  the  first 
doorway. 

"Good  night,  sir,  and  thank  you!"  said  the 
taxi  driver. 

The  cab  made  off  as  Theydon  ran  up  a  short 
flight  of  steps.  Innesmore  Mansions  did  not 
boast  elevators.  The  flats  were  comfortable, 
but  not  absurdly  expensive,  and  their  inmates 
climbed  stairs  cheerfully;  at  most,  they  had 
only  to  mount  to  a  second  storey.  Each  block 
owned  a  uniformed  porter,  who,  on  a  night 
like  this,  even  in  May,  needed  rousing  from 
his  lair  by  a  bell  if  in  demand. 

Theydon  took  the  stairs  two  at  a  stride, 
opened  the  door  of  No.  18,  which,  with  No.  17, 
occupied  the  top  landing.  He  was  valeted  and 
cooked  for  by  an  ex-sergeant  of  the  Army  Ser- 
vice Corps  and  his  wife,  an  admirable  couple 
named  Bates,  and  the  male  of  the  species  ap- 
peared before  Theydon  had  removed  coat  and 
opera  hat  in  the  tiny  hall. 

"Bring  my  tray  in  fifteen  minutes,  Bates, 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY      9 

and  that  will  be  all  for  tonight,"  said  Theydon. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Bates.  "Remarkable 
change  in  the  weather,  sir." 

"Rotten.  Who  would  have  expected  this 
downpour  after  such  a  fine  day?" 

Bates  took  the  coat  and  hat,  and  Theydon 
entered  his  sitting  room,  a  spacious,  square 
apartment  which  faced  the  gardens.  He  had 
purposely  prevented  Bates  from  coming  im- 
mediately with  his  nightly  fare,  which  con- 
sisted of  a  glass  of  milk  and  a  plate  of  bread 
and  butter. 

Truth  to  tell,  the  artistic  temperament  con- 
tains a  spice  of  curiosity,  which  is,  in  some 
sense,  an  exercise  of  the  perceptive  faculties. 
Theydon  wanted  to  raise  a  window  and  look 
out,  an  unusual  action,  and  one  which,  there- 
fore, would  induce  Bates  to  wonder  as  to  its 
cause. 

For  once  in  his  life  a  man  who  bothered  his 
head  very  little  about  other  people's  business 
was  puzzled,  and  meant  to  ascertain  whether 
or  not  the  unknown  was  really  calling  on  some 
resident  in  Innesmore  Mansions.  It  was  a 
harmless  bit  of  espionage.  Theydon  scarcely 
knew  the  names  of  the  other  dwellers  in  his 
own  block,  and  his  acquaintance  did  not  even 
go  that  far  with  any  of  the  remaining  ten- 
ants of  48  flats,  all  told. 

Still,  to  a  writer,  the  vagaries  of  the  tall 
stranger  were  decidedly  interesting,  so  he  did 


10 

open  a  window,  and  did  thrust  his  head  out, 
and  was  just  in  time  to  see  the  owner  of  the 
limousine  which  would  call  at  the  Constitu- 
tional Club  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  mount 
the  steps  leading  to  Nos.  13-18.  Somehow, 
the  discovery  gave  Theydon  a  veritable  thrill. 

Could  that  pretty  girl's  father,  by  any 
chance,  be  coming  to  visit  him?  A  wildly 
improbable  development  had  been  whittled 
down  to  a  five-to-one  chance.  He  closed  the 
window  and  waited,  yes,  actually  waited,  for 
the  bell  to  ring! 

The  sitting  room  door  was  open,  and  it 
faced  the  hall  door.  Footsteps  sounded 
sharply  on  the  slate  steps  of  the  stairway; 
when  Theydon  heard  some  one  climbing  to 
the  topmost  landing  he  was  almost  convinced 
that,  as  usual,  the  unexpected  was  about  to 
happen.  It  did  happen,  but  took  its  own  pe- 
culiar path.  The  unknown  rang  the  bell  of 
No.  17,  and,  after  a  slight  delay,  was  ad- 
mitted. 

Theydon  smiled  at  the  anticlimax.  A  trivial 
mystery  had  developed  along  strictly  ortho- 
dox lines.  A  rather  good-looking  and  distinctly 
well-dressed  lady,  a  Mrs.  Lester,  occupied 
No.  17.  She  lived  alone,  too,  he  believed.  At 
any  rate,  he  had  never  seen  any  other  person, 
except  an  elderly  servant,  enter  or  leave  the 
opposite  flat,  and  he  had  encountered  the 
tenant  herself  so  seldom  that  he  was  not 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY     11 

^ 

quite  certain  of  recognizing  her  apart  from 
the  environment  of  the  staircase  which  pro- 
vided their  occasional  meeting  place. 

Then  he  sighed.  Romance  evidently  denied 
her  magic  presence  to  one  who  wooed  her 
assiduously  by  his  pen.  He  was  yet  to  learn 
that  the  alluring  sprite  had  not  only  favored 
him  with  her  attentions  during  the  past  twenty 
minutes,  but  meant  to  stick  to  him  like  his 
own  shadow  for  many  a  day.  And  he 
frowned,  too. 

He  did  not  approve  of  that  pretty  girl's 
father  visiting  the  attractive  Mrs.  Lester  in 
conditions  which  savored  of  something  under- 
handed and  clandestine.  The  man  had  de- 
liberately misled  his  daughter.  He  left  her 
with  a  lie  on  his  lips;  yet  never  were  appear- 
ances more  deceptive,  for  the  stranger  had 
the  outward  aspect  of  one  whose  word  was 
his  bond. 

"Oh,  dash  it  all,  what  business  is  it  of  mine, 
anyhow!"  growled  Theydon,  and  he  laughed 
sourly  as  he  sat  down  to  write  a  letter  which 
Bates  could  take  to  the  post,  thus  himself 
practicing  a  slight  deceit  intended  solely  to 
account  for  the  deferred  bringing  of  the  tray. 

It  was  apparently  an  unimportant  missive 
which  could  well  have  been  postponed  till  the 
morning,  being  merely  an  announcement  to 
a  firm  of  publishers  that  he  would  pay  a  busi- 
ness call  later  in  the  week.  In  less  than  five 


12  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

minutes  it,  and  another,  making  an  appoint- 
ment for  Wednesday,  this  being  the  night  of 
Monday,  were  written,  sealed,  directed  and 
stamped. 

He  rang.  Bates  came,  with  laden  hands, 
thinking  the  tray  was  in  demand. 

"Kindly  post  those  for  me,"  said  Theydon, 
glancing  at  the  letters.  "Better  take  an  um- 
brella. It's  raining  cats  and  dogs." 

The  man  had  found  the  door  open,  and 
left  it  so  when  he  entered.  Before  he  could 
answer,  the  door  of  No.  17  was  opened  and 
closed,  with  the  jingle  inseparable  from  the 
presence  of  many  small  panes  of  glass  in 
leaden  casing,  and  footsteps  sounded  on  the 
stairs.  For  some  reason — probably  because 
of  the  unusual  fact  that  any  one  should  be 
leaving  Mrs.  Lester's  flat  at  so  late  an  hour, 
both  men  listened. 

Then  Bates  recollected  himself. 

"Yes,    sir,"   he    said. 

Oddy  enough,  the  man's  marked  pause  sug- 
gested a  question  to  his  employer. 

"Mrs.  Lester's  visitor  didn't  stop  long," 
was  the  comment.  "He  came  up  almost  on 
my  heels." 

"I  thought  it  must  ha*  bin  a  gentleman," 
said  Bates. 

"Why  a  'gentleman'?"  laughed  Theydon. 

"I  mean,  sir,  that  the  step  didn't  sound 
like  a  lady's." 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY     13 

"Ah,  I  see." 

Vaguely  aware  that  he  had  committed  him- 
self to  a  definite  knowledge  as  to  the  sex  of 
Mrs.  Lester's  visitor,  Theydon  added: 

"I  didn't  actually  see  any  one  on  the  stairs, 
but  I  heard  an  arrival,  and  jumped  to  the 
same  conclusion  as  you,  Bates." 

Tacitly,  master  and  man  shared  the  same 
opinion — it  was  satisfactory  to  know  that 
Mrs.  Lester's  male  visitors  who  called  at  the 
unconventional  hour  of  11 : 30  p.  m.  were 
shown  out  so  speedily.  Innesmore  Mansions 
were  intensely  respectable. 

No  lady  could  live  there  alone  whose  creden- 
tials had  not  satisfied  a  sharp-eyed  secretary. 
Further,  Theydon  was  aware  of  a  momen- 
tary disloyalty  of  thought  toward  the  distin- 
guished-looking father  of  that  remarkably 
handsome  girl,  and  it  pleased  him  to  find  that 
he  had  erred. 

Bates  went  out,  closing  the  door  behind  him : 
he  donned  an  overcoat,  secured  an  umbrella 
and  presently  descended  to  the  street.  Yield- 
ing again  to  impulse,  Theydon  reopened  the 
window  and  peered  down.  The  stranger  was 
walking  away  rapidly.  A  policeman,  glisten- 
ing in  cape  and  overalls,  stood  at  the  corner, 
near  a  pillar  box. 

The  tall  man,  who  topped  the  burly  con- 
stable by  some  inches,  halted  for  a  moment 
to  post  a  letter.  Whether  by  accident  or  de- 


14 

sign  he  held  his  umbrella  so  that  the  other 
could  not  see  his  face.  Then  he  disappeared. 
Bates  came  into  view.  He  dropped  Theydon's 
letters  into  the  box,  but  he  and  the  policeman 
exchanged  a  few  words,  which,  his  employer 
guessed,  must  surely  have  dealt  with  the 
vagaries  of  the  weather. 

For  an  author  of  repute  Theydon's  sur- 
mises had  been  wide  of  the  mark  several 
times  that  night.  The  policeman  had  seen 
the  unknown  coming  out  from  the  doorway  of 
Nos.  13-18,  and  had  noted  his  stature  and  ap- 
pearance. 

11  Who's  the  toff  who  just  left  your  lot?"  he 
said,  when  Bates  arrived. 

"Dunno,"  said  Bates.  "Some  one  callin' 
on  Mrs.  Lester,  I  fancy.  Why?" 

"0,  nothing.  On'y,  if  I  was  togged  up  re- 
gardless on  a  night  like  this  I'd  blue  a  cab 
fare. ' ' 

"I  didn't  see  him  meself,"  commented 
Bates.  "My  boss  'eard  him  come,  an'  both 
of  us  'eard  him  go.  He  didn't  stay  more'n 
five  minnits." 

"Wish  I  was  in  his  shoes.  I've  got  to  stick 
round  here  till  six  in  the  morning,"  grinned 
the  policeman. 

"Well,  cheer-o,  mate." 

"Cheer-o." 

Bates  looked  in  on  his  master  before  re- 
tiring for  the  night. 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY     15 

"What  time  shall  I  call  you,  sir?"  he  said. 

Theydon  was  in  the  pipe  and  book  stage, 
having  exchanged  his  dress  coat  for  a  smok- 
ing jacket.  He  was  reading  a  treatise  on  aero- 
nautics, and,  like  every  novice,  had  already 
formulated  a  flying  scheme  which  would 
supersede  all  known  inventions. 

"Not  later  than  8,"  he  said.  "I  must  be 
out  by  9.  And,  by  the  way,  I  may  as  well 
tell  you  now.  After  lunch  tomorrow  I  am 
going  to  Brooklands.  I  return  to  Waterloo 
at  6:40.  As  I  have  to  dine  in  the  West  End 
at  7 : 30,  and  my  train  may  be  a  few  minutes 
behind  time,  I  want  you  to  meet  me  with  a 
suitcase  at  the  hairdresser's  place  on  the  main 
platform.  I'll  dress  there  and  go  straight 
to  my  friend's  house.  It  would  be  cutting 
things  rather  fine  if  I  attempted  to  come 
here. ' ' 

"I'll   have   everything   ready,   sir." 

Bates  was  eminently  reliable  in  such  mat- 
ters. He  could  be  depended  on  to  the  last 
stud. 

The  storm  which  had  raged  overnight  must 
have  cleared  the  skies  for  the  following  day, 
because  Theydon  never  enjoyed  an  outing 
more  than  his  trip  to  the  famous  motor  track. 
His  business  there,  however,  lay  with  aviation. 
A  popular  magazine  had  commissioned  him 
to  write  an  article  summing  up  the  progress 
and  practical  aims  of  the  airmen  and  he  was 


16  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

devoting  afternoon  and  evening  to  the  quest 
of  information.  A  couple  of  experts  and  a 
photographer  had  given  him  plenty  of  raw 
material  in  the  open,  but  he  looked  forward 
with  special  zest  to  an  undisturbed  chat  that 
night  with  Mr.  James  Creighton  Forbes,  mil- 
lionaire and  philanthropist,  whose  peculiar 
yet  forcible  theories  as  to  the  peaceful  con- 
quest of  the  air  were  for  the  hour  engaging 
the  attention  of  the  world's  press. 

He  had  never  met  Mr.  Forbes.  When  on 
the  point  of  writing  for  an  appointment  he 
had  luckily  remembered  that  the  great  man 
was  a  lifelong  friend  of  the  professor  of 
physics  at  his  (Theydon's)  university,  and  a 
delightfully  cordial  introductory  note  was 
forthcoming  in  the  course  of  a  couple  of  posts. 
This  brought  the  invitation  to  dinner.  "On 
Tuesday  evening  I  am  dining  en  famille," 
wrote  Mr.  Forbes,  "so,  if  you  are  free,  join 
us  at  7 : 30,  and  we  can  talk  uninterruptedly 
afterward." 

The  train  was  not.  late.  Bates,  erect  and 
soldierly,  was  standing  at  the  rendezvous. 
With  him  were  two  men  whom  Theydon  had 
never  before  seen.  One,  a  bulky,  stalwart, 
florid-faced  man  of  forty,  had  something  of  the 
military  aspect ;  the  other^,  supplied  his  direct 
antithesis,  being  small,  wizened  and  sallow. 

The  big  man  had  a  round,  bullet  head,  prom- 
inent bright  blue  eyes,  and  the  cheek  bones, 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY     17 

chin  and  physical  development  of  a  heavy- 
weight pugilist.  His  companion,  whose  dark 
and  recessed  eyes  were  noticeably  bright,  too, 
could  not  be  more  than  half  his  weight,  and 
Theydon  would  not  have  been  surprised  if 
told  that  this  diminutive  person  was  a  dancing 
master.  Naturally  he  classed  both  as  acquaint- 
ances of  his  valet,  encountered  by  chance  on 
the  platform  at  Waterloo. 

He  was  slightly  astonished,  therefore,  when 
the  two  faced  him,  together  with  Bates.  A 
dramatic  explanation  of  their  presence  was 
soon  supplied. 

"These  gentlemen,  sir,  are  Chief  Inspector 
Winter  and  Detective  Inspector  Furneaux  of 
Scotland  Yard,"  said  the  ex-sergeant,  in  the 
awed  tone  which  some  people  cannot  help 
using  when  speaking  of  members  of  the  Crim- 
inal Investigation  Department. 

Though  daylight  had  not  yet  failed  it  was 
rather  dark  in  that  corner  of  the  station,  and 
Theydon  saw  now  what  he  had  not  perceived 
earlier,  that  the  usually  sedate  Bates  was  pale 
and  harassed  looking. 

"Why,  what's  up?"  he  inquired,  gazing 
blankly  from  one  to  the  other  of  the  ominous 
pair. 

"Haven't  you  seen  the  evening  papers,  Mr. 
Theydon?"  said  Winter,  the  giant  of  the  two. 

"No,  I've  been  at  Brooklands  since  two 
o'clock.  But  what  is  it?" 


18  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

1  'You  don't  know,  then,  that  a  murder  was 
committed  in  the  Innesmore  Mansions  last 
night  or  early  this  morning?" 

"Good  Lord,  no!    Who  was  killed?" 

"A  Mrs.  Lester,  the  lady — " 

"Mrs.  Lester,  who  lives  in  No.  17!" 

"Yes." 

"What  a  horrible  thing!  Why,  only  the 
day  before  yesterday  I  met  her  on  the  stairs." 

It  was  a  banal  statement,  and  Theydon 
knew  it,  but  he  blurted  out  the  first  crazy 
words  that  would  serve  to  cloak  the  mon- 
strous thought  which  leaped  into  his  brain. 
And  a  picture  danced  before  his  mind's  eye, 
a  picture,  not  of  the  fair  and  gracious  woman 
who  had  been  done  to  death,  but  of  a  sweet- 
voiced  girl  in  a  white  satin  dress  who  was 
saying  to  a  fine-looking  man  standing  by  her 
side:  "Dad,  aren't  you  coming  home  with 
me!" 

His  blurred  senses  were  conscious  of  the 
strange  medley  produced  by  the  familiar 
noises  of  a  railway  station  blending  with  the 
quietly  authoritative  voice  of  the  chief  in- 
spector. 

"Mr.  Furneaux  and  I  have  the  inquiry  in 
hand,  Mr.  Theydon,"  the  detective  was  say- 
ing. "We  called  at  your  flat,  and  Bates  told 
us  of  the  sounds  you  both  heard  about  11 : 30 
last  night.  I'm  afraid  we  have  rather  upset 
you  by  coming  here,  but  Bates  was  unable  to 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY     19 

say  what  time  you  would  return  home,  so  I 
thought  you  would  not  mind  if  we  accom- 
panied him  in  order  to  find  out  the  hour 
at  which  it  would  be  convenient  for  you 
to  meet  us  at  your  flat — this  evening,  of 
course." 

"You  have  certainly  given  me  the  shock 
of  my  life,"  Theydon  gasped.  "That  poor 
woman  dead,  murdered!  It's  too  awful!  How 
was  she  killed?" 

"She  was  strangled." 

"0,  this  is  dreadful!  Shall  I  wire  an 
apology  to  the  man  I'm  dining  with?" 

"No  need  for  that,  Mr.  Theydon,"  said 
Winter,  sympathetically.  "I'm  sorry  now  we 
blurted  out  our  unpleasant  news.  But  you 
had  to  be  told,  and  it  was  essential  that  we 
should  get  your  story  some  time  tonight.  Can 
you  be  home  by  eleven?" 

"Yes,  yes.    I'll  be  there  without  fail." 

"Thank  you.  We  have  a  good  many  in- 
quiries to  make  in  the  meantime.  Goodby,  for 
the  present." 

The  two  made  off.  Winter  had  done  all 
the  talking,  but  Theydon  was  far  too  dis- 
turbed to  pay  heed  to  the  trivial  fact  that 
Furneaux,  after  one  swift  glance,  seemed  to 
regard  him  as  a  negligible  quantity.  It  was 
borne  in  on  him  that  the  detective  evidently 
believed  he  had  something  of  importance  to 
gay,  and  meant  to  render  it  almost  impossible 


20  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

that  he  should  escape  questioning  while  his 
memory  was  still  active  with  reference  to 
events  of  the  previous  night. 

And  he  had  so  little,  yet  so  much,  to  tell. 
On  his  testimony  alone  it  would  be  a  compara- 
tively easy  matter  to  establish  beyond  doubt 
the  identity  of  Mrs.  Lester's  last  known 
visitor.  And  what  would  be  the  outcome1? 
He  dared  hardly  trust  his  own  too  lively 
imagination.  Whether  or  not  his  testimony 
gave  a  clew  to  the  police,  the  one  irrevocable 
issue  was  that  somewhere  in  London  there 
was  a  girl  named  Evelyn  who  would  regard 
a  certain  young  man,  Francis  Berrold  They- 
don  to  wit,  as  a  loathsome  and  despicable 
Paul  Pry. 

Bates,  somewhat  relieved  by  the  departure 
of  the  emissaries  of  Scotland  Yard,  recalled 
his  master's  scattered  wits  to  the  affairs  of 
the  moment. 

11  It's  getting  on  for  seven,  sir,"  he  said. 
"I've  engaged  a  dressing  room." 

"Tell  you  what,  Bates,"  said  Theydon  ab- 
stractedly, "it  is  my  fixed  belief  that  you 
and  I  could  do  with  a  brandy  and  soda 
apiece. ' ' 

"That  would  be  a  good  idea,  sir." 

The  good  idea  was  duly  acted  on.  While 
Theydon  was  dressing  Bates  told  him  what 
little  he  knew  of  the  tragedy,  which  was  dis- 
covered by  Mrs.  Lester's  maid  when  she. 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY     21 

brought  a  cup  of  tea  to  her  mistress'  bedroom 
at  ten  o'clock  that  morning. 

Bates  himself  was  the  first  person  appealed 
to  by  the  distracted  woman,  and  he  had  the 
good  sense  to  leave  the  body  and  its  sur- 
roundings untouched  until  a  doctor  and  the 
police  had  been  summoned  by  telephone. 
Thenceforth  the  day  had  passed  in  a  whirl 
of  excitement,  active  in  respect  to  police  in- 
quiries and  passive  in  its  resistance  to  news- 
paper interviewers.  He  saw  no  valid  reason 
why  his  employer's  plans  should  be  disturbed, 
so  made  no  effort  to  communicate  with  him 
at  Brooklands. 

"Them  'tecs  were  very  pressin',  sir,"  said 
Bates,  rather  indignantly,  "very  pressin', 
especially  the  little  one.  He  almost  wanted 
to  know  what  we  had  for  breakfast." 

At  that  Theydon  laughed  dolefully,  and,  as 
it  happened,  Bates 's  grim  humor  prevented 
him  from  ascertaining  the  exact  nature  of 
Furneaux's  pertinacity.  Moreover,  the  time 
was  passing.  At  7 : 15  Theydon  called  a  taxi 
and  was  carried  swiftly  to  Mr.  Forbes 's  house 
in  Belgravia,  while  Bates  disposed  himself 
and  the  dressing  case  on  top  of  a  northbound 
omnibus. 

The  mere  change  of  clothing,  aided  by  the 
stimulant,  had  cleared  Theydon 's  faculties. 
Though  he  would  gladly  have  foregone  th^ 
dinner,  he  realized  that  it  was  not  a  bad  thing 


22  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

that  he  should  be  forced,  as  it  were,  to  wrench 
his  thoughts  from  the  nightmare  of  a  crime 
with  which  such  a  man  as  ''Evelyn's"  father 
might  be  associated,  even  innocently. 

At  any  rate,  he  was  given  some  hours  to 
marshal  his  forces  for  the  discussion  with  the 
representatives  of  Scotland  Yard.  He  knew 
well  that  he  must  then  face  the  dilemma 
boldly.  Two  courses  were  open.  He  could 
either  share  Bates 's  scanty  knowledge,  no 
more  and  no  less,  or  avow  his  ampler  obser- 
vations. And  why  should  he  adopt  the  first 
of  these  alternatives?  Was  he  not  bringing 
himself  practically  within  the  law? 

Why  should  any  man  be  shielded,  no  matter 
what  his  social  position  or  how  beautiful  his 
daughter,  who  might  possibly  have  caused  the 
death  of  the  pleasant-mannered  and  ladylike 
woman  fated  now  to  remain  for  ever  a  tragic 
ghost  in  the  memory  of  one  who  had  dwelt 
under  the  same  roof  with  her  for  five 
months  ? 

It  was  a  thorny  problem,  yet  it  permitted 
of  only  one  solution.  Duty  must  be  done 
though  the  heavens  fell. 

This  conviction  grew  on  Theydon  as  his 
cab  scurried  across  the  Thames  and  along 
Birdcage  Walk.  A  pretty  conceit  could  not 
be  allowed  to  sweep  aside  the  first  principles 
of  citizenship.  Indeed,  so  reassuring  was  this 
reasoned  judgment  that  he  felt  a  sense  of 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  CURIOSITY    23 

relief  as  he  paid  off  the  cab  and  rang  the 
bell  of  the  Forbes  mansion. 

He  gave  his  name  to  a  footman,  who  dis- 
posed of  his  overcoat  and  hat,  and  led  him 
to  an  upstairs  drawing  room.  Even  the  most 
fleeting  glances  at  hall  and  staircase  revealed 
evidences  of  a  highly  trained  artistic  taste 
gratified  by  great  wealth.  The  furniture,  the 
china,  the  pictures,  were  each  and  all  rare  and 
well  chosen. 

"Mr.  Theydon,"  announced  the  man, 
throwing  wide  the  door. 

A  lady,  bent  over  some  prints  spread  on  a 
distant  table,  turned  at  the  words,  and  has- 
tened to  greet  the  guest. 

"My  father  is  expecting  you,  Mr.  They- 
don, "  she  said.  "He  was  detained  rather 
late  in  the  city,  but  will  be  here  now  at  any 
moment. ' ' 

Theydon  was  no  neurotic  boy,  whose  sur- 
charged nerves  were  liable  to  crack  in  a  crisis 
demanding  some  unusual  measure  of  self- 
control.  Yet  the  room  and  its  contents — 
and,  not  least,  the  graceful  girl  advancing 
with  outstretched  hand — swam  before  his 
eyes. 

Because  this  was  "Evelyn,"  and  it  was  cer- 
tain as  the  succession  of  night  to  day  that 
Mrs.  Lester's  mysterious  visitor  must  have 
been  "Evelyn's"  father,  James  Creighton 
Forbes. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    COMPACT 

So  petrified  was  Theydon  by  coming  face 
to  face  with  the  last  person  breathing  whom 
he  expected  to  meet  in  that  room,  that  he 
stumbled  over  a  small  chair  which  lay 
directly  between  him  and  his  hostess.  At  any 
other  time  the  gaucherie  would  have  annoyed 
him  exceedingly;  in  the  existing  circum- 
stances, no  more  fortunate  incident  could  have 
happened,  since  it  brought  Evelyn  Forbes  her- 
self unwittingly  to  the  rescue. 

''I  have  spoken  twenty  times  about  chairs 
being  left  in  that  absurd  position,"  she  cried, 
as  their  hands  met,  "but  you  know  how 
wooden-headed  servants  are.  They  will  not 
learn  to  discriminate.  People  often  sit  in  that 
very  place  of  an  afternoon,  because  any  one 
seated  just  there  sees  the  Canaletto  on  the 
opposite  wall  in  the  best  light.  When  the 
lamps  are  on,  the  reason  for  the  chair  simply 
ceases  to  exist,  and  it  becomes  a  trap  for  the 
unwary.  You  are  by  no  means  the  first  who 
has  been  caught  in  it." 

Theydon  realized,  with  a  species  of  irrita- 
tion, that  the  girl  was  discoursing  volubly 

24 


THE  COMPACT  25 

about  the  offending  chair  merely  in  order  to 
extricate  an  apparently  shy  and  tongue-tied 
young  man  from  a  morass  of  his  own  crea- 
tion. 

That  an  author  of  some  note  should  not  only 
behave  like  a  country  bumpkin,  but  actually 
seem  to  need  encouragement  so  that  he  should 
"feel  at  home"  in  a  London  drawing  room, 
was  a  fact  so  ridiculous  that  it  spurred  his 
bemused  wits  into  something  approaching  their 
normal  activity. 

"I  have  not  the  excuse  of  the  Canaletto," 
he  said,  compelling  a  pleasant  smile,  "but 
may  I  plead  an  even  more  distracting  vision? 
I  came  here  expecting  to  meet  an  elderly 
gentleman  of  the  class  which  flippant  Ameri- 
cans describe  as  'high-brow,'  and  I  am  sud- 
denly brought  face  to  face  with  a  Romney 
'portrait  of  a  lady'  in  real  life.  Is  it  likely 
that  such  an  insignificant  object  as  a  chair, 
and  a  small  one  at  that,  would  succeed  in 
catching  my  eye?" 

Evelyn  Forbes  laughed,  with  a  joyous 
mingling  of  surprise  and  relief.  Most  cer- 
tainly, Mr.  Theydon's  manner  of  speech  dif- 
fered vastly  from  the  disconcerting  expres- 
sion of  positive  bewilderment,  if  not  actual 
fright,  which  marred  his  entrance. 

"Do  I  really  resemble  a  Romney?  Which 
one?"  she  cried. 

"An  admitted  masterpiece." 


26  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

1  'Ah,  but  people  who  pay  compliments  de- 
serve to  be  put  on  the  rack.  I  insist  on  a 
definition. ' ' 

"Lady  Hamilton  as  Joan  of  Arc." 

He  drew  the  bow  at  random,  and  was  grati- 
fied to  see  that  his  hearer  was  puzzled. 

"I  don't  know  that  particular  picture," 
she  said,  "but  I  cannot  imagine  any  model 
less  adapted  to  the  subject." 

"Romney  immortalized  the  best  qualities 
of  both,"  he  answered  promptly.  "Please, 
may  I  look  at  the  Canaletto  which  indirectly 
waylaid  me?" 

She  turned  to  cross  the  room,  but  stopped 
and  faced  him  again  with  a  suddenness  that 
argued  an  impulsive  temperament. 

"Now,  I  remember,"  she  said.  "Dad  told 
me  you  had  written  novels  and  some  essays. 
Have  you  ever  really  seen  Romney's  portrait 
of  Lady  Hamilton  as  Joan  of  Arc?" 

Those  fine  eyes  of  hers  pierced  him  with 
a  glance  of  such  candid  inquiry  that  he  cast 
pretence  to  the  winds. 

"No,"  he  said. 

"Then  you  just  invented  the  comparison 
as  an  excuse  for  colliding  with  the  chair?" 

"Yes.  At  the  same  time  I  throw  myself 
on  the  mercy  of  the  court." 

"It  was  rather  clever  of  you." 

He  laughed,  and  their  eyes  met,  at  very 
close  range. 


THE  COMPACT  27 

"May  I  share  the  joke?"  said  a  voice,  and 
Theydon  knew;  before  he  turned,  that  the 
man  he  had  last  seen  disappearing  around 
the  corner  of  Innesmore  Mansions  in  a  heavy 
rainstorm-  was  in  the  room. 

"Why  did  you  tell  me  that  Mr.  Theydon 
was  a  serious  scientific  person?"  cried  the 
girl.  "He  is  anything  but  that.  He  can  talk 
nonsense  quite  admirably." 

"So  can  a  great  many  serious  scientific 
persons,  Evelyn.  Glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  They- 
don. Professor  Scarth's  letter  paved  the  way 
for  something  more  than  a  formal  meeting, 
so  I  thought  you  wouldn't  mind  giving  us 
an  evening.  My  wife  is  not  in  town.  She  is 
a  martyr  to  hay  fever,  and  has  to  fly  from 
London  to  the  sea  early  in  May  to  escape. 
If  caught  here  in  June  nothing  can  save 
her.  Tonight,  as  it  happens,  you're  our  only 
guest,  but  my  daughter  is  going  to  a  musicale 
at  Lady  de  Winton's  after  dinner,  so  you  and 
I  will  be  free  to  soar  into  the  empyrean 
through  a  blaze  of  tobacco  smoke." 

Standing  there,  in  that  delightful  drawing 
room,  made  welcome  by  a  man  like  Forbes, 
and  admitted  to  a  degree  of  charming  inti- 
macy by  a  girl  like  Forbes 's  daughter,  They- 
don tried  to  believe  that  his  meeting  with 
those  ill-omened  detectives  at  Waterloo  Sta- 
tion was,  in  some  sort,  a  figment  of  the  im- 
agination. 


28 

But  he  was  instantly  and  effectually 
brought  back  to  a  dour  sense  of  reality  by 
Evelyn  Forbes 's  next  words.  She,,  by  chance, 
looked  at  Theydon  just  as  she  had  looked  at 
him  the  previous  night. 

"Were  you  at  Daly's  Theater  last  night?" 
she  inquired  suddenly. 

"Yes,"  he  said.  Then,  finding  there  was 
no  help  for  it,  he  went  on: — 

"You  and  I  have  hit  on  the  same  dis- 
covery, Miss  Forbes.  We  three  stood  to- 
gether at  the  exit.  I  was  waiting  for  a 
taxi,  and  saw  you  get  into  your  car. 
Now  you  know  just  why  I  fell  over  the 
chair." 

Forbes  glanced  up  quickly. 

"Don't  tell  me  Tomlinson  forgot  to  move 
that  infernal  chair  again!"  he  cried.  "Really, 
I  must  get  rid  either  of  our  butler  or  the 
Canaletto,  yet  I  prize  both." 

"Don't  blame  Tomlinson,  Dad,"  laughed 
the  girl.  "If  Mr.  Theydon  hadn't  made  an 
unconventional  entry  we  would  have  talked 
about  the  weather,  or  something  equally 
stupid." 

At  that  moment  Tomlinson  himself,  im- 
perturbable and  portly,  announced  that  dinner 
was  served.  The  three  descended  the  stairs, 
chatting  lightly  about  the  musical  comedy 
witnessed  overnight.  It  was  no  new  revelation 
to  Theydon  that  truth  should  prove  stranger 


THE  COMPACT  29 

than  fiction,  but  the  trite  phrase  was  fast  as- 
suming a  fresh  and  sinister  personal  sig- 
nificance. He  believed,  and  not  without  good 
reason,  that  no  man  living  had  ever  under- 
gone an  experience  comparable  with  his  pres- 
ent adventure. 

When  he  left  that  house  he  was  going 
straight  to  two  officers  of  the  law  whose 
bounden  duty  it  would  become  to  call  upon 
Mr.  Forbes  for  a  full  and  true  explanation 
of  his  visit  to  Mrs.  Lester — provided,  that  is, 
he  (They don)  told  them  what  he  knew.  Talk 
about  a  death's-head  grinning  at  a  feast! 
At  that  bright  dinner-table  he  was  a  prey 
to  keener  emotion  than  ever  /shook  a  Bor- 
gia entertaining  one  whom  he  meant  to 
poison. 

In  sheer  self-defense  he  talked  with  an  ani- 
mation he  seldom  displayed.  Evelyn  was  evi- 
dently much  taken  by  him,  and,  fired  by  her 
manifest  interest,  he  indulged  in  fantastic 
paradox  and  wild  flights  of  fancy.  Seemingly 
his  exuberance  stimulated  Forbes,  himself  a 
well-informed  and  epigrammatic  talker. 

An  hour  sped  all  too  soon.  The  girl  rose 
with  a  sigh. 

"It's  too  bad  that  I  should  have  to  go," 
she  said.  "I  shall  be  bored  stiff  at  Lady  de 
Winton's.  But  I  can't  get  out  of  it  except  by 
telling  a  positive  fib  over  the  telephone. 
Dad,  next  time  you  ask  Mr.  Theydon  to 


30  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

dinner,  please  let  me  know  in  good  time, 
and  neither  of  you  will  be  rid  of  me  so 
easily." 

She  shook  hands  with  Theydon.  While  she 
was  giving  her  father  a  parting  kiss  the 
guest  moved  to  the  door  and  held  it  open.  As 
she  passed  out  she  smiled  and  her  eyes 
said  plainly : 

"I  like  you.    Come  again  soon." 

Then  she  was  gone  and  the  pleasant  room 
lost  some  of  its  glow  and  color. 

"Don't  sit  down  again,  Theydon,"  said 
Forbes,  rising.  "We'll  have  coffee  brought 
to  my  den.  What  is  your  favorite  liqueur— 
or  shall  we  tell  Tomlinson  to  send  along  that 
decanter  of  port?  It's  a  first-rate  wine.  An- 
other glass  won't  hurt  you,  or  me,  for  that 
matter. ' ' 

Theydon  had  hardly  dared  to  touch  the 
champagne  supplied  during  the  meal.  Abste- 
mious at  all  times,  because  he  found  that  wine 
or  spirits  interfered  with  his  capacity  for 
work,  he  felt  that  a  clear  head  and  steady 
nerves  were  called  for  that  night  more  than 
any  other  night  in  his  life.  Following  the  lead 
given  by  his  host,  therefore,  he  elected  for 
the  port. 

"You  are  right,  too,"  said  Forbes.  "You 
remember  Dr.  Johnson's  dictum:  'Claref  is 
the  liquor  for  boys;  port  for  men;  but  he 
who  aspires  to  be  a  hero  must  drink  brandy'? 


THE  COMPACT  31 

Tonight,  not  aspiring  to  the  heroic,  we'll  stick 
to  port." 

44  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  on  my  return  from 
Brooklands  today  I  took  a  glass  of  brandy," 
confessed  Theydon.  "I  seldom,  if  ever,  drink 
any  intoxicant  before  dining,  but  I  needed  a 
stimulant  of  a  sort,  and  some  unknown  tissue 
in  me  cried  aloud  for  brandy." 

He  hoped  vaguely  that  the  comment  would 
lead  to-  something  more  explicit,  and  thus 
bring  him,  without  undue  emphasis,  so  to 
speak,  to  the  one  topic  on  which  he 
was  now  resolved  to  obtain  a  decisive  state- 
ment from  the  man  chiefly  concerned  be- 
fore he  faced  the  representatives  of  Scotland 
Yard. 

But  Forbes,  motioning  to  an  easy  chair  in 
a  well-appointed  library,  and  flinging  himself 
into  another,  gave  heed  only  to  the  one  word 
—Brooklands. 

"Did  you  fly?"  he  asked. 

"No.  I  was  soaking  in  theory,  not  prac- 
tice." 

"Ah,  theory.  It  would,  indeed,  seem  to  be 
true  that  folded  away  in  some  convolution  of 
our  brain  are  the  faculties  of  the  fish  and  the 
bird.  Those  latent  powers  are  expanding 
daily.  The  submarine  has  already  gone  far 
beyond  the  practical  achievement  of  aerial 
craft.  But  why,  in  the  name  of  humanity, 
should  every  such  development  of  man's  al- 


32  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

most  immeasurable  resources  be  dedicated  to 
warlike  purposes!  I  am  sick  at  heart  when  I 
hear  the  first  question  put  in  these  days  to  each 
inventor :  *  Can  you  enable  us  to  kill  more  of  our 
fellowmen  than  we  can  kill  with  existing  appli- 
ances?' Is  it  a  new  engine,  a  new  amalgam 
of  metals,  a  new  explosive,  a  new  field  of 
electrical  energy,  one  hears  the  same  vulture's 
cry — 'How  many,  how  far,  how  safely  can  we 
slay?'  I  regard  this  lust  for  destruction  as 
contemptible.  It  is  a  strange  and  ignomini- 
ous feature  of  modern  life.  Forgive  me, 
Mr.  Theydon,  if  I  speak  strongly  on  this  mat- 
ter. The  men  who  spread  the  bounds  of 
science  today  are,  nominally,  at  any  rate, 
Christians.  They  tell  of  peace  and  goodwill 
to  all,  yet  prepare  unceasingly  for  some  awful 
Armageddon.*  We  teach  Christ's  gospel  in 
pulpit  and  schoolhouse,  strive  to  express  it  in 
our  laws,  obey  it  in  our  lives  and  social  rela- 
tions, yet  we  are  armed  to  the  teeth  and  ever 
arming,  adding  strength  to  the  plates  of  our 
warships  and  distance  to  the  range  of  our 
guns,  constantly  riveting  and  welding  and  forg- 
ing monsters  which  shall  shatter  men  and  cities 
and  States." 

It  was  not  the  younger  man  now  who  talked 
brilliantly  and  forcibly.  Theydon,  frankly 
abandoning  the  effort  to  twist  the  conver- 
sation to  that  enigma  which,  the  more  he  saw 

*Thia  story  was  written  before  the  outbreak  of  war  in  1914. 


THE  COMPACT  33 

and  heard  of  Forbes  the  more  incredible  it 
became,  listened  enthralled  to  one  who  spoke 
with  the  conviction  and  earnestness  of  a 
prophet. 

4 'Don't  imagine  that  I  am  framing  an  in- 
dictment against  Christianity,"  went  on 
Forbes  passionately.  "The  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  inspires  all  that  is  great  and  noble 
in  our  everyday  existence,  all  that  is  eter- 
nally beautiful  in  our  dreams  of  the  future. 
But  why  this  din  of  war,  this  smoke  of  ar- 
senals, this  marching  and  drilling  of  the 
world's  youth?  Nature's  law  appears  to  have 
two  simple  clauses.  It  enforces  a  principle 
in  the  struggle  for  existence,  a  test  in  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest.  Great  heavens,  are  not 
these  enough,  without  having  our  ears  deaf- 
ened by  powder  and  drumming?  That  is  why 
I  am  devoting  a  good  deal  of  time  and  no 
small  amount  of  money  to  an  international 
crusade  against  the  warlike  idea,  and  I  see 
no  reason  why  a  beginning  should  not  be 
made  with  the  airship  and  the  airplane. 
We  are  too  late  with  the  submarine,  but, 
before  the  golden  hour  passes,  let  us  stop 
the  navigation  of  the  air  from  forming 
part  of  the  equipment  of  murder.  Surely  it 
can  be  done.  England  and  the  United  States, 
Italy,  France  and  the  rest  of  Europe — the 
founts  of  civilization — can  write  the  edict, 
with  all  the  blazonry  of  their  glorious  his- 


34  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

tories  to  illuminate  the  page — 'There  shall  be 
no  war  in  the  air!' 

Theydon  was  carried  away  in  spite  of  him- 
self. 

"You  believe  that  the  airship  might  develop 
along  the  unemotional  lines  of  the  parcel 
post?"  he  inquired. 

Forbes  laughed. 

1  'Exactly,"  he  said.  "I  like  your  simile. 
No  one  suggests  that  we  Britons  should  en- 
deavor to  destroy  our  hated  rivals  by  send- 
ing bombs  through  the  mails.  Why,  then, 
in  the  name  of  common  sense,  should  the 
first — I  might  almost  say  the  only  use  of 
which  the  airship  is  commonly  supposed  cap- 
able— be  that  of  destruction?  Don't  you  see 
the  instant  result  of  a  war-limiting  ordinance 
of  the  kind  I  advocate?  Suppose  the  peoples 
and  the  rulers  declared  in  their  wisdom  that 
soldiers  and  war  material  should  be  contraband 
of  the  air — and  suppose  that  airships  do  be- 
come vehicles  of  practical  utility — what  a  farce 
would  soon  be  all  the  grim  fortresses,  the  guns, 
the  giant  steel  structures  now  designed  as  float- 
ing hells!  Humanity  has  yet  time  to  declare 
that  the  flying  machine  shall  be  as  harmless  and 
serviceable  as  the  penny  post.  I  believe  it 
can  be  done.  Come  now,  Mr.  Theydon,  I 
think  you've  caught  on  to  my  scheme — will 
you  help?" 

Help!    Here  was  a  man  expounding  a  new 


THE   COMPACT  35 

evangel,  which  might,  indeed,  be  visionary  and 
impracticable,  but  was  none  the  less  essen- 
tially noble  and  Christian  in  spirit,  yet  They- 
don  was  debating  whether  or  not  he  should 
give  testimony  which  would  bring  to  that 
very  room  a  couple  of  detectives  whose  first 
questions  would  make  clear  to  Forbes  that 
he  was  suspected  of  blood-guiltiness! 

The  notion  was  so  utterly  repellent  that 
Theydon  sighed  deeply;  his  host  not  unnatur- 
ally looked  surprised. 

"Of  course,  such  a  revolutionary  idea 
strikes  you  as  outside  the  pale  of  common 
sense,"  he  began,  but  the  younger  man  stayed 
him  with  a  gesture.  Here  was  an  oppor- 
tunity that  must  not  be  allowed  to  pass.  No 
matter  what  the  cost — if  he  never  saw  Evelyn 
Forbes  or  her  father  again — he  must  dispel 
the  waking  nightmare  which  held  him  in 
such  an  abnormal  condition  of  uncertainty 
and  foreboding. 

"Now  that  your  daughter  is  gone  I  may 
venture  to  speak  plainly,"  he  said.  "I  told 
you  that  I  felt  the  need  of  a  brandy  and 
soda  at  Waterloo.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
did  not  leave  the  Brooklands  track  until  six 
o'clock,  and,  as  Innesmore  Mansions,  where 
I  live,  lie  north,  and  I  was  due  here  at  7 : 30, 
I  had  my  man  meet  me  at  the  station  with 
a  suitcase,  meaning  to  change  my  clothes  in 
the  dressing  room  there,  and  come  straight 


36  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

here.  Guess  my  astonishment  when  I  found 
Bates — Bates  is  the  name  of  my  factotum — 
in  the  company  of  two  strangers,  whom  he 
introduced  as  representing  the  Criminal  In- 
vestigation Department." 

He  paused.  He  had  brought  in  his  own 
address  skilfully  enough,  and  kept  his  voice 
sufficiently  under  control  that  no  tremor  be- 
trayed a  knowledge  of  Forbes 's  vital  interest 
in  any  mention  of  that  one  block  of  flats 
among  the  multitude. 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  Innesmore  Man- 
sions figured  as  his  abode,  the  correspondence 
which  led  to  the  dinner  having  centered  in 
his  club.  But  not  a  flicker  of  eyelid  nor 
twitch  of  mobile  lips  showed  the  slightest 
concern  on  Forbes 's  part.  Bather  did  he  dis- 
play at  once  a  well-bred  astonishment  on 
hearing  Theydon's  concluding  words. 

"Do  you  mean  detectives  from  Scotland 
Yard?"  he  cried. 

"Yes." 

Forbes  smiled,  and  commenced  filling  a 
pipe. 

"Evidently  they  did  not  want  you  as  a  prin- 
cipal," he  said. 

His  tone  was  genial,  but  slightly  guarded. 
Theydon  realized  that  this  man  of  great 
wealth  and  high  social  position  had  reminded 
himself  that  his  guest,  though  armed  with 
the  best  of  credentials,  was  quite  unknown  to 


THE  COMPACT  37 

him  otherwise,  and  that,  perhaps,  he  had 
acted  unwisely  in  inviting  a  stranger  to  his 
house  without  making  some  preliminary  in- 
quiry. This  reversal  of  their  roles  was  a 
conceit  so  ludicrous  that  Theydon  smiled 
too. 

At  any  rate,  he  meant  now  to  pursue  an 
unpleasing  task,  and  have  done  with  it. 

"No,"  he  said  slowly.  "It  seems  that  I 
am  the  worst  sort  of  witness  in  a  murder 
case.  I  may  have  heard,  I  may  even  have 
seen,  the  person  suspected  of  committing  the 
crime,  or,  if  that  is  going  too  far,  the  person 
whom  the  police  have  good  reason  to  regard 
as  the  last  who  saw  the  poor  victim  alive 
and  in  ordinary  conditions.  But  my  testi- 
mony, such  as  it  is,  is  so  slight  and  incon- 
clusive that,  of  itself,  no  one  could  hang  a  cat 
on  it." 

"Good  gracious!  That  sounds  interesting, 
though  you  have  my  sympathy.  It  must  be 
rather  distressing  to  be  mixed  up  in  such  an 
affair,  even  indirectly." 

Forbes  struck  precisely  the  right  note  of 
friendly  inquiry.  He  wished  to  hear  more, 
and  was  at  the  same  time  relieved  to  find 
that  Professor  Scarth  had  not  introduced  a 
notorious  malefactor  in  the  guise  of  a  young 
writer  seeking  material  for  an  article  on  air- 
ships ! 

Theydon  could  have  laughed  aloud  at  this 


38  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

comedy  of  errors,  but  the  fact  that  at  any 
moment  it  might  develop  into  a  tragedy  ex- 
ercises a  wholesome  restraint. 

"I  happen  to  live  at  No.  18  Innesmore  Man- 
sions," he  said.  ''Opposite — on  the  same 
floor,  I  mean — lives,  or  did  live,  a  Mrs.  Lester. 
I  do  not—" 

"Are  you  telling  me  that  a  Mrs.  Lester  of 
No.  17  Innesmore  Mansions  is  dead — has  been 
murdered?" 

Forbes 's  voice  rang  out  vibrant,  incisive. 
His  ordinarily  pale  face  had  blanched,  and 
his  deep-set  eyes  blazed  with  the  fire  of  some 
fierce  emotion,  but,  beyond  the  slight  elevation 
of  tone  and  the  change  of  expression,  he  re- 
vealed to  They  don's  quietly  watchful  scrutiny 
no  sign  of  the  terror  or  distress  which  an  evil- 
doer might  be  expected  to  show  on  learning 
that  the  law's  vengeance  was  already  shadow- 
ing him,  even  in  so  remote  a  way  as  was  in- 
dicated by  the  presence  under  his  roof  of  a 
witness  regarded  by  the  police  as  an  impor- 
tant one. 

"Yes!"  stammered  Theydon,  quite  taken 
aback  by  his  companion's  vehemence.  "Do 
you — know  the  lady?  If  so — I  am  sorry — I 
spoke  so  unguardedly— 

"Good  heavens,  man,  don't  apologize  for 
that!  I  am  not  a  child  or  weakling,  that  I 
should  flinch  in  horror  from  one  of  life's 
dramatic  surprises!  But,  are  you  sure  of 


THE  COMPACT  39 

what  you  are  saying?  Mrs.  Lester  murdered! 
When!" 

"About  midnight  last  night,  the  doctor  be- 
lieves. That  is  what  Bates  told  me.  I  was 
so  shaken  on  hearing  his  news,  which  was  con- 
firmed by  the  two  detectives,  that  I  really 
gave  little  heed  to  details.  .  .  .  She  was 
strangled — a  peculiarly  atrocious  thing  where 
an  attractive  and  ladylike  woman  is  con- 
cerned. I  have  never  spoken  to  her,  but  have 
met  her  at  odd  times  on  the  stairs.  I  was 
immeasurably  shocked,  I  assure  you.  In  fact, 
I  was  on  the  point  of  telegraphing  an  excuse 
to  you  for  this  evening,  but  the  Chief  Inspector 
—Winter,  I  think  his  name  is — said  it  would 
suffice  for  his  purpose  if  I  met  him  at  my  flat 
about  eleven  o'clock,  as  he  was  engaged  on 
other  inquiries  which  would  occupy  the  inter- 
vening hours." 

"But  if  the  news  of  this  dastardly  crime 
only  reached  you  tonight  at  Waterloo  Station, 
and  you  have  no  personal  acquaintance  with 
Mrs.  Lester,  what  evidence  can  you  give  that 
will  assist  the  police?" 

"Mrs.  Lester  received  a  visitor  last  night, 
an  incident  so  unusual  that  I,  who  heard  him 
arrive,  and  Bates,  who  was  in  my  sitting  room 
when  we  both  heard  him  depart,  commented 
on  the  strangeness  of  it.  That,  I  suppose,  is 
the  reason  why  I  am  in  request  by  Scotland 
Yard." 


40  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"You  say  'him.'  How  did  you  know  it 
was  a  man?  Did  you  see  him?" 

"Er — that  was  impossible.  We  were  in  my 
flat,  behind  its  closed  door.  Bates  and  I 
deduced  his  sex  from  the  sound  of  his  foot- 
steps." 

Again  Theydon  nearly  stammered.  Events 
had  certainly  turned  in  the  most  amazing  way. 
Instead  of  carrying  himself  almost  in  the 
manner  of  a  judge,  he  was  figuring  rather  as 
an  unwilling  witness  in  the  hands  of  a  skilled 
and  merciless  cross-examining  counsel. 

1  'Did  the  police  officers  supply  any  theory 
of  motive  for  the  crime?  Was  this  poor  wo- 
man killed  for  the  sake  of  her  few  trinkets?" 

By  this  time  Theydon  was  stung  into  a 
species  of  revolt.  It  was  he,  not  Forbes,  who 
should  be  snapping  out  searching  questions. 

"I  regret  to  say  that  my  nerves  were  not 
sufficiently  under  control  at  Waterloo  that  I 
should  listen  carefully  to  each  word,"  he  said, 
almost  stiffly.  "Bates  had  picked  up  such  in- 
formation as  was  available;  but  he,  though  an 
ex-sergeant  in  the  Army,  was  so  upset  as  to 
be  hardly  coherent.  When  I  meet  the  de- 
tectives in  the  course  of  another  hour  I  shall 
probably  gather  something  definite  and  re- 
liable in  the  way  of  details." 

Forjbes  laid  the  pipe  which  he  had  filled  but 
not  lighted  on  the  table.  He  poured  out  a 
glass  of  port  and  drank  it. 


THE  COMPACT  41 

"Try  that,"  he  said,  pushing  the  decanter 
toward  Theydon.  "They  cannot  trouble  you 
greatly.  You  have  so  little  to  tell. ' ' 

"No,  thanks.  Nothing  more  for  me  tonight 
until  the  Scotland  Yard  men  have  cleared 
out." 

Forbes  rose  as  he  spoke  and  strode  the 
length  of  the  room  and  back  with  the  air  of 
a  man  debating  some  weighty  and  difficult 
point. 

"Mr.  Theydon,"  he  said,  at  last,  halting  in 
front  of  the  younger  man  and  gazing  down  at 
him  with  a  direct  intensity  that  was  highly 
embarrassing  to  one  who  had  good  cause  to 
connect  him  with  the  actual  crime.  "I  want 
you  to  do  me  a  favor — a  great  favor.  It  was 
in  my  mind  at  first  to  ask  you  to  permit  me 
to  go  with  you  to  Innesmore  Mansions,  and  to 
be  present  during  the  interview  with  the  de- 
tectives. But  a  man  in  my  position  must  be 
circumspect.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  unwise  to 
appear  too  openly  interested.  I  don't  mind  tell- 
ing you  in  confidence  that  I  have  known  Mrs. 
Lester  many  years.  The  shock  of  her  death, 
severe  as  it  must  have  been  to  you,  is  slight 
as  compared  with  my  own  sorrow  and  dismay. 
More  than  that  I  dare  not  say  until  better  in- 
formed. I  remember  now  hearing  the  news- 
boys shouting  their  ghoulish  news,  and  I  saw 
contents  bills  making  large  type  display  of 
'Murder  of  a  lady,'  but  little  did  I  imagine 


42  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

that  the  victim  was  one  whom — one  whose  loss 
I  shall  deplore.  .  .  .  Are  you  on  the  tele- 
phone I ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Theydon,  thoroughly  mystified 
anew  by  the  announcement  that  Forbes  had 
even  contemplated,  or  so  much  as  hinted  at, 
the  astounding  imprudence  of  visiting  Innes- 
more  Mansions  that  night. 

"Ring  me  up  when  the  detectives  have  gone. 
I  shall  esteem  your  assistance  during  this 
crisis  as  a  real  service." 

For  the  life  of  him,  Theydon  could  not 
frame  the  protest  which  ought  to  have  been 
made  without  delay  and  without  hesitation. 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "I'll  do  that.  You  can 
trust  me  absolutely." 

Thus  was  he  committed  to  secrecy.  That 
promise  sealed  his  lips. 


CHAPTER  III 

IN  THE   TOILS 

THEYDON,  though  blessed,  or  cursed,  with  an 
active  imagination — which  must  surely  be  the 
prime  equipment  of  a  novelist — was  shrewd 
and  level-headed  in  dealing  with  everyday 
affairs. 

It  was  no  small  achievement  that  the  son 
of  a  country  rector,  aided  only  by  a  stout 
heart,  a  university  education  and  an  excel- 
lent physique — good  recommendations,  each 
and  all,  but  forming  the  stock-in-trade  of 
many  a  man  on  whose  subsequent  career 
"failure'*  is  writ  large — should  have  forced 
himself  to  the  front  rank  of  the  most  over- 
crowded among  the  professions  before  attain- 
ing his  twenty-sixth  year. 

It  may  be  taken  for  granted,  therefore,  that 
he  was  not  lacking  in  the  qualities  of  close 
observation  and  critical  analysis.  He  would, 
for  instance,  be  readier  than  the  majority  of 
his  fellows  to  note  the  small  beginnings  of 
events  destined  to  become  important. 

Often,  of  course,  his  deductions  would 
prove  erroneous,  but  the  mere  fact  that  he 
habitually  exercised  his  wits  in  such  a  way 

43 


44  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

rendered  it  equally  certain  that  his  judgment 
would  be  accurate  sometimes.  One  such  oc- 
casion presented  itself  a  few  seconds  after  he 
had  left  the  Forbes  mansion. 

A  taxi,  summoned  by  a  footman,  was  in 
waiting,  and  Theydon  was  crossing  the  pave- 
ment when  he  noticed  a  gray  landaulet  car 
at  rest  beneath  the  trees  at  some  distance. 
Mr.  Forbes 's  house  stood  in  a  square,  and 
the  gray  car  had  been  drawn  up  on  the  quiet 
side  of  the  roadway,  being  stationed  there, 
apparently,  to  await  its  owner's  behest.  Gray 
cars  are  common  enough  in  London,  but  they 
are  usually  of  the  touring  class. 

Not  often  does  one  see  a  gray-painted  lan- 
daulet; hence,  the  odd  though  hardly  remark- 
able fact  occurred  to  Theydon  that  a  precisely 
similar  gray  automobile  had  occupied  the 
center  of  the  station  yard  at  Waterloo  when 
he  took  a  taxi  from  the  rank. 

Admittedly  he  was  in  a  nervous  and  excited 
state.  It  could  hardly  be  otherwise  after  the 
strain  of  that  astounding  conversation  with 
Forbes,  and  there  was  no  prospect  of  the  ten- 
sion being  relaxed  until  the  close  of  the  in- 
terview with  the  detectives,  which  he  now  re- 
garded as  the  worse  ordeal  of  the  two. 

But  this  subconscious  neurasthenia  in  no 
wise  affected  the  reflex  action  of  his  ordinary 
faculties.  When,  on  leaving  the  square,  and 
while  his  cab  was  rattling  along  an  aris- 


IN  THE  TOILS  45 

tocratic  thoroughfare  leading  to  Knights- 
bridge,  he  peered  through  a  tiny  observation 
window  in  the  back  of  the  vehicle,  and  as- 
certained that  the  gray  car  was  stealing  along 
quietly  about  a  hundred  yards  in  the  rear, 
he  began  to  believe  that  its  presence  both  at 
Waterloo  and  outside  Mr.  Forbes 's  residence 
could  not  be  wholly  accidental.  When  he  had 
watched  its  persistent  treading  on  his  heels 
along  Piccadilly  its  intent  became  almost  un- 
mistakable. 

The  route  to  Innesmore  Mansions  traversed 
some  of  London's  main  arteries,  but,  despite 
the  rush  of  traffic  due  to  the  first  flight  of 
homewardbound  playgoers,  the  gray  car  kept 
steadily  on  his  track.  Amused  at  first,  be  be- 
came angry  because  of  a  notion  which  grew 
out  of  the  wonderment  of  finding  himself  the 
object  of  this  persistent  espionage. 

To  make  sure,  and  at  the  same  time  dis- 
cover the  sort  of  person  who  was  spying  on 
him,  he  adopted  a  ruse.  Leaning  out,  when 
about  to  cross  Oxford  Street  into  Totten- 
ham Court  Road,  he  said  to  his  driver:  "Turn 
sharp  to  the  right  in  Store  Street,  and  pull 
up.  I'll  tell  you  when  to  go  on  again." 

The  man  obeyed.  Theydon  posted  himself 
at  the  outer  window,  and  in  a  space  of  time 
so  short  that  the  excellence  of  the  gray  car's 
accelerator  was  amply  demonstrated,  the  pur- 
suer swung  into  sight.  A  stolid-faced  chauf- 


46  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

feur  at  the  wheel  did  not  appear  discomfited 
at  coming  on  his  quarry  thus  unexpectedly. 
He  whirled  past,  seemingly  quite  oblivious  of 
Theydon 's  fixed  stare.  Though  the  weather 
was  mild  he  wore  an  overcoat  with  upturned 
collar,  so  that  between  its  protecting  flaps  and 
a  low-peaked  cap  his  face  was  well  hidden. 
Still,  Theydon  received  an  impression  of  a 
curiously  wooden  physiognomy. 

The  man  might  have  been  an  automaton 
for  all  the  heed  he  gave  to  the  taxi  or  its  in- 
quisitive occupant.  But  his  aspect  was  al- 
most forgotten  in  the  far  stranger  discovery 
that  the  car  was  empty.  Both  windows 
were  open,  and  the  bright  lights  of  a  corner 
shop  flashed  into  the  interior,  yet  not  a  soul 
was  visible.  Moreover,  the  car  sped  on  un- 
hesitatingly, stopping  some  two  hundred  yards 
ahead. 

So  far  as  Theydon  could  tell,  no  one 
alighted.  He  jotted  down  the  number — XY 
1314 — on  his  shirt  cuff. 

1  'Did  you  happen  to  see  that  car  waiting 
near  the  house  I  came  from?"  he  said  to  the 
taxi  man,  who,  of  course,  provided  an  in- 
terested audience  of  one. 

"Yes,  sir,"  was  the  ready  answer.  "It's 
not  a  London  car.  I've  never  seen  them 
letters  afore." 

"In  other  words,  it  may  be  a  faked  num- 
ber." 


IN  THE  TOILS  47 

"  Likely  enough,  sir,  but  rather  risky.  The 
police  are  quick  at  spotting  that  sort  of 
thing." 

"Can  you  take  a  hand  in  the  game?  I 
want  to  know  where  that  car  goes  to." 

The  man  grinned. 

"I  wouldn't  like  to  humbug  you,  sir.  That 
there  machine  can  lose  me  quicker 'n  a  Derby 
winner  could  pass  a  keb  horse.  Didn't  you 
hear  the  hum  of  the  engine  as  it  went  by?" 

"Thanks.  Now  go  ahead  to  Innesmore 
Mansions." 

He  was  paying  the  driver  when  the  gray 
car  stole  quietly  past  the  end  of  the  street, 
and  that  was  the  last  he  saw  of  it. 

"There  it  goes  again,  sir,"  said  the  man. 
"Tell  you  wot,  gimme  your  name  an'  address. 
I'll  make  a  few  inquiries,  an'  keep  me  eyes 
open  as  well.  Then,  if  I  hear  anythink,  I'll 
let  you  know." 

Theydon  scribbled  the  number  of  his  flat 
on  a  card. 

"There  you  are,"  he  said.  "Even  if  I 
happen  to  be  out,  I'll  leave  instructions  that 
you  are  to  be  paid  half  a  crown  for  your 
trouble  if  you  call.  By  the  way,  what  is  your 
name?" 

"Evans,  sir." 

There  was  really  little  doubt  in  Theydon 's 
mind  as  to  the  reason  why  he  had  been  fol- 
lowed. He  was  fuming  about  it  when  Bates 


48  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

met  him  in  the  hall  of  No.  18  with  the 
whisper : 

"Them  two    are   waiting   here  now,    sir.'* 

Theydon  glanced  at  his  watch.  The  hour 
was  ten  minutes  past  eleven. 

"Sorr^  I'm  late,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  on 
entering  the  sitting  room  and  finding  the  de- 
tectives seated  at  his  table,  seemingly  com- 
paring notes,  because  the  Chief  Inspector  was 
talking,  while  Furneaux,  the  diminutive,  was 
glancing  at  a  notebook. 

"We  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  being 
kept  waiting  a  few  minutes  in  such  comfort- 
able quarters,"  said  Winter  pleasantly. 

"0,  I  fancy  I  was  detained  by  some  zealous 
assistant  of  yours,"  said  Theydon,  deter- 
mined to  carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's  ter- 
ritory. 

At  that  Furneaux  looked  up  quickly. 

"Will  you  kindly  tell  me  just  what  you 
mean,  Mr.  Theydon?"  said  Winter. 

"Why?  Is  it  news  to  you  that  a  gray 
limousine  car  stalked  me  from  Waterloo  to— 
to  my  friend's  house,  waited  there  three  hours 
or  more,  and  has  carefully  escorted  me  home? 
I  dislike  that  sort  of  thing.  Moreover,  it 
strikes  me  as  stupid.  I  didn't  kill  Mrs. 
Lester.  It  will  save  you  and  me  a  good  deal 
of  time  and  worry  if  you  accept  that  plain 
statement  as  a  fact." 

"Won't     you     sit     down?"     said     Winter 


IN  THE  TOILS  49 

quietly.  "And — may  I  smoke?  I  didn't  like 
to  ask  Bates  for  permission  to  light  up  in 
your  absence." 

Theydon  was  not  to  be  outdone  in  coolness. 
He  opened  a  corner  cupboard  and  produced 
various  boxes. 

"The  cigars  are  genuine  Havanas,"  he 
said.  "A  birthday  present  from  a  maiden 
aunt,  who  is  wise  enough  to  judge  the  quality 
of  tobacco  by  the  price.  Here,  too,  are  Vir- 
ginian, Turkish  and  Egyptian  cigarettes." 

Winter  inspected  the  cigars  gravely. 

"By  Jove!"  he  cried,  his  big  eyes  bulging 
in  joyous  surprise.  "Last  year's  crop  from 
the  Don  Juan  y  Guerrero  plantation.  Treas- 
ure that  aunt  of  yours,  Mr.  Theydon.  None 
but  herself  can  be  her  equal." 

Theydon  saw  that  the  little  man  did  not 
follow  his  chief's  example. 

"Don't  you  smoke?"  he  said. 

"No,  but  if  you'll  not  be  horrified,  I  would 
like  to  smell  one  of  those  Turks." 

"Smell  it?" 

"Yes.  That  is  the  only  way  to  enjoy  the 
aroma  and  avoid  nicotine  poisoning.  My 
worthy  chief  dulls  a  sound  intellect  by  the 
cigar  habit.  What  is  worse,  he  excites  a  ner- 
vous system  which  is  normally  somewhat 
bovine.  You,  also,  I  take  it,  are  a  confirmed 
smoker,  so  both  of  you  are  at  cross-purposes 
already." 


DO  NmTBEK  SEVENTEEN 


Furneaux's  voice  was  pitched  in  the  curious 
piping  note  usually  associated  with  comic 
relief  in  a  melodrama,  but  his  wizened  face 
was  solemn  as  a  red  Indian's.  It  was  They- 
don  who  smiled.  His  preconceived  ideas  as 
to  the  appearance  and  demeanor  of  the  Lon- 
don detective  were  shattered.  Really,  there 
was  no  need  to  take  these  two  seriously. 

Winter,  while  lighting  the  cigar,  grinned 
amiably  at  his  colleague.  Furneaux  passed 
a  cigarette  to  and  fro  under  his  nostrils 
and  sniffed.  Theydon  reached  for  a  pipe  and 
tobacco  jar  and  drew  up  a  chair. 

''Well,"  he  said,  "it  is  not  my  business  to 
criticise  your  methods.  I  have  very  little 
to  tell  you.  I  suppose  "Bates— 

"The  really  important  thing  is  this  car 
which  followed  you  tonight,"  broke  in  Winter. 
"The  details  are  fresh  in  your  memory. 
What  type  of  car  was  it?  Did  you  see  the 
driver  and  occupants?  What's  its  number?" 

Theydon  had  not  expected  these  questions. 
He  looked  his  astonishment. 

"Ha!"  cackled  Furneaux.  "What  did  I 
tell  you?" 

"0,  shut  up!"  growled  Winter.  "I  am 
asking  just  what  you  yourself  are  itching  to 
know." 

"May  I  take  it  that  the  car  has  not  been 
dogging  me  by  your  instructions?"  said  They- 
don. He  was  inclined  to  be  skeptical,  yet 


IN  THE  TOILS  51 

the  Chief  Inspector  seemed  to  have  spoken 
quite  candidly. 

"Yes,"  said  Winter,  meeting  the  other's 
glance  squarely.  "We  have  no  reason  on 
earth  to  doubt  the  truth  of  anything  you  have 
said,  or  may  say,  with  regard  to  this  inquiry. 
The  car  is  not  ours.  This  is  the  first  we 
have  heard  of  it.  We  accepted  your  word, 
Mr.  Theydon,  that  you  were  dining  with  a 
friend.  Perhaps  you  will  tell  us  now  what 
his  name  is  and  where  he  lives." 

Theydon  hesitated  the  fraction  of  a  second. 
That,  he  knew  instantly,  was  a  blunder,  so 
he  proceeded  to  rectify  it. 

"I  was  dining  with  Mr.  James  Creighton 
Forbes,  of  No.  11,  Fortescue  Square,"  he  said. 
"Probably  you  are  acquainted  with  his  name, 
so  you  will  realize  that  if  my  evidence  proves 
of  the  slightest  value  I  would  not  like  any 
reference  to  be  made  to  the  fact  that  I  was 
his  guest  tonight." 

"I  don't  see  how  that  can  possibly  enter 
into  the  matter,  except  in  its  bearing  on  this 
mysterious  car." 

Though  Winter  was  taking  the  lead,  They- 
don was  aware  that  Furneaux,  who  had  given 
him  scant  attention  hitherto,  was  now  looking 
at  him  fixedly.  He  imagined  that  the  queer 
little  man  was  all  agog  to  learn  something 
about  the  automobile  which  had  thrust  itself 
so  abruptly  into  the  affair. 


52  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"Exactly,"  he  agreed.  "I  visited  Mr. 
Forbes  tonight  for  the  first  time.  "We  are 
mutually  interested  in  aviation.  That  is  why 
I  went  to  Brooklands  today,  and  the  invita- 
tion to  dinner  was  the  outcome  of  a  letter  of 
introduction  given  me  by  Professor  Scarth." 

Then,  thinking  he  had  said  enough  on  that 
point,  he  described  the  gray  car  and  its  stolid- 
faced  chauffeur  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  He 
told  of  the  brief  chat  with  the  taxi  driver  and 
its  result. 

"Good!"  nodded  Winter.  "I'm  glad  you 
did  that.  It  may  help.  I  am  doubtful  of 
any  information  turning  up,  but  you  never 
can  tell.  The  number  plate,  at  any  rate,  is 
certainly  misleading.  Now,  about  last  night? 
Try  and  be  as  accurate  as  possible  with  re- 
gard to  time.  Can  you  give  us  the  exact  hour 
when  you  returned  home?" 

"I  happened  to  note  by  the  clock  on  the 
mantelpiece  that  I  came  in  at  11:35." 

Winter  compared  the  clock's  time  with  his 
watch. 

"You  had  been  to  a  theater?"  he  said. 

"Yes— Daly's." 

"It  was  raining  heavily.     Did  you  take  a 


"Yes." 

"Were  you  delayed?     The  piece  ended  at 
11:05." 
"My  cab  met  with  a  slight  accident." 


IN  THE  TOILS  53 

"What  sort  of  accident?" 

Theydon  explained. 

"In  all  likelihood  you  can  discover  the 
driver,"  he  smiled,  "and  he  will  establish 
my  alibi." 

His  tone  seemed  to  annoy  Furneaux,  who 
broke  in: 

"Don't  you  write  novels?" 

"Yes." 

"Sensational?" 

1 l  Occasionally. ' ' 

"Then  you  ought  to  be  tickled  to  death, 
as  the  Americans  say,'  at  being  mixed  up  in 
a  first-rate  murder.  This  is  no  ordinary 
crime.  Several  people  will  be  older  and  wiser 
before  the  culprit  is  found  and  hanged." 

"What  Mr.  Furneaux  has  in  mind,"  purred 
Winter  cheerfully,  "is  the  curious  habit  of 
some  witnesses  when  questioned  by  the  police. 
They  arm  themselves  against  attack,  as  it 
were.  You  see,  Mr.  Theydon,  we  suspect  no- 
body. We  try  to  ascertain  facts,  and  hope  to 
deduce  a  theory  from  them.  Over  and  over 
again  we  are  mistaken.  We  are  no  more 
astute  than  other  men.  Our  sole  advantage 
is  a  wide  experience  of  criminal  methods.  The 
detective  of  romance — if  you'll  forgive  the 
allusion — simply  doesn't  exist  in  real  life." 

"I  accept  the  rebuke,"  said  Theydon.  "I 
suppose  the  gray  car  was  still  rankling  in  my 
mind.  From  this  moment  I  start  afresh.  At 


54  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

any  rate,  the  man  who  brought  me  from  the 
theater  might  check  my  recollection  of  the 
time." 

Winter  nodded.  He  was  evidently  pleased 
that  Theydon  was  inclined  to  share  his  view 
of  the  difficulties  Scotland  Yard  encountered 
in  its  fight  against  malefactors. 

"Did  you  see  or  meet  any  one  in  particular 
while  your  car  approached  these  mansions,  or 
when  you  ascended  the  stairs?" 

"No,"   said  Theydon. 

He  perceived  intuitively  that  if  the  de- 
tectives found  the  driver  of  the  taxi  which 
brought  him  from  the  theater  it  was  possible 
the  man  might  have  noticed  Forbes,  who  had 
certainly  been  scrutinized  a  few  minutes  later 
by  a  policeman,  so  he  hastened  to  add: 

"You  said  'any  one  in  particular.'  I  did 
see  a  tall,  well-dressed  gentleman  at  the 
corner  of  the  street,  but  there  is  nothing  re- 
markable in  that." 

"Which  way  was  he  heading?" 

"In  this  direction." 

"Then  it  is  conceivable  that  he  might  be 
the  man  who  called  on  Mrs.  Lester?" 

"Yes." 

"Aren't  you  pretty  sure  he  was  the  man?" 

Theydon  permitted  himself  to  look  aston- 
ished. 

"I?"  he  said.  "How  can  I  be  sure?  If 
you  mean  that,  judging  from  the  interval 


IN  THE  TOILS  55 

of  time  between  my  seeing  him  at  the  corner 
and  the  sound  of  footsteps  on  the  stairs, 
followed  by  the  opening  of  the  door  at  No.  17, 
it  could  be  he,  I  accept  that." 

Winter  nodded  again.  Apparently  he  was 
content  with  They  don's  correction. 

"As  the  weather  was  bad,  you  probably 
hurried  in  when  your  cab  stopped!"  he  said. 

"That  is  equivalent  to  saying  you  credit 
me  with  sense  enough  to  get  in  out  of  the  wet," 
smiled  Theydon. 

"Just  so.  And  you  wore  an  overcoat, 
which  you  removed  on  entering  your  hall?" 

"Yes,"  and  Theydon 's  tone  showed  a  cer- 
tain bewilderment  at  these  trivialities. 

"Then  if  you  paid  no  special  heed  to  the 
movements  of  the  tall  gentleman  you  have 
mentioned,  why  did  you  open  one  of  these 
windows  and  look  out  soon  after  Bates  went 
to  the  post?" 

Theydon  flushed  like  a  schoolboy  caught  by 
a  master  under  circumstances  which  youth 
generally  describes  as  "a  clean  cop." 

"How  on  earth  do  you  know  I  looked  out?" 
he  almost  gasped. 

"I'll  tell  you  willingly.  The  discovery  was 
Mr.  Furneaux's,  not  mine.  When  we  came 
here  this  morning,  and  ascertained  that  you 
had  been  out  at  a  late  hour  last  night,  we 
asked  your  man  if  he  could  enlighten  us  as 
to  your  movements.  He  did  so.  To  the  best 


56  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

of  his  belief  you  dined  at  a  club,  and  occupied 
a  stall  at  Daly's  Theater  subsequently.  He  was 
sure,  too,  you  had  not  walked  home  through 
the  rain,  so  it  was  easy  to  draw  the  conclu- 
sion that  you  returned  in  a  covered  vehicle. 
Mr.  Furneaux  requested  Bates  to  produce 
the  clothes  you  had  worn,  which,  owing  to  the 
uproar  created  by  the  news  of  the  murder, 
had  not  been  brushed  and  put  away.  As  a 
consequence  the  silk  collar  and  part  of  the 
back  of  your  dress-coat  bore  the  marks  of 
raindrops.  How  had  they  got  there?  The 
only  logical  deduction  was  that  you  had 
thrust  your  head  and  shoulders  through  a 
window,  and  the  time  of  the  action  is  estab- 
lished almost  beyond  doubt,  because  you  had 
changed  the  coat  when  Bates  came  from  the 
pillar-box.  It  was  either  directly  after  you 
came  in,  or  while  Bates  was  absent.  Of  course 
you  may  have  looked  out  twice.  Did  you? 
Whether  once  or  twice,  why  did  you  do  it?" 

Theydon's  feelings  changed  rapidly  while 
Winter  was  delivering  this  very  convincing 
analysis  of  a  few  simple  facts.  He  had  passed 
at  a  bound  from  the  detected  schoolboy  stage 
to  that  of  a  man  forcing  his  way  through  a 
thicket  who  finds  himself  on  the  very  lip  of 
a  precipice. 

He  remembered  hazily  that  Bates  had  said 
something  at  Waterloo  with  regard  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  detectives,  especially 


IN  THE  TOILS  57 

Furneaux,  had  questioned  him.  But  it  was  too 
late  to  apply  the  warning  thus  conveyed.  If 
he  faltered  now  he  was  forever  discredited. 
These  men  would  read  his  perplexed  face  as 
if  it  were  a  printed  page.  In  his  distress  he 
was  prepared  to  hear  Winter  or  that  little 
satyr,  Furneaux,  say  mockingly: 

"Why  are  you  trying  to  screen  James 
Creighton  Forbes!  What  is  he  to  you! 
What  matter  his  fame  or  social  rank!  We 
are  here  to  see  that  justice  is  done.  Out 
with  the  truth,  let  who  may  suffer." 

But  neither  of  the  pair  said  anything  of 
the  sort.  Furneaux  only  interjected  a  sar- 
castic comment. 

"You  will  observe,  Mr.  Theydon,  that  even 
in  a  minor  instance  of  deductive  reasoning, 
such  as  this,  the  man  who  smells  rather  than 
the  man  who  smokes  tobacco  solves  the  prob- 
lem promptly." 

Theydon  threw  out  his  hands  in  token  of 
surrender.  He  thought  he  saw  a  means  of 
escape,  and  took  it  unhesitatingly. 

"I'm  vanquished,"  he  said.  "You  force 
me  to  admit  that  I  do  know  a  little,  a  very 
little,  more  than  I  have  confessed  hitherto 
about  the  man  who  visited  Mrs.  Lester's  flat 
last  night.  I  have  said  nothing  about  the 
matter  thus  far  because  I  didn't  want  to  be 
convicted  of  a  piece  of  idle  curiosity  worthy 
of  a  gossip-loving  housemaid.  I  noticed  the 


58 

man  I  have  described  staring  at  the  name 
tablet  of  the  street  as  my  cab  turned  the 
corner.  I  did  not  know  him.  I  had  never  seen 
him  before  last  night,  but  he  was  of  such 
distinguished  appearance  and  his  face  was  of 
so  rare  a  type  that  I  was  interested  and 
wished  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  on  whom  he 
meant  calling  if,  as  it  seemed,  he  was  search- 
ing for  an  address  in  these  flats.  Therefore, 
I  did  look  out,  and  saw  him  enter  the  door- 
way beneath.  In  due  course  I  heard  him 
arrive  at  Mrs.  Lester's  door — that  is,  I  as- 
sume it  was  he.  Five  minutes  later  Bates 
and  I  heard  him  depart.  To  make  sure,  I 
looked  out  a  second  time.  If  you  ask  me  why 
I  behaved  in  that  way  I  cannot  tell  you. 
I  have  occupied  this  flat  during  the  past 
five  months,  and  I  have  never  previously, 
within  my  recollection,  lifted  a  window  and 
gazed  out  to  watch  anybody's  comings  and 
goings.  The  thing  is  inexplicable.  All  I  can 
say  is  that  it  just  happened." 

"Would  you  recognize  him  if  you  saw  him 
again?" 

"Yes." 

Theydon  gave  the  assurance  readily.  It 
was  beyond  credence  that  either  detective 
should  put  the  one  question  to  which  he  was 
now  firmly  resolved  to  give  a  misleading 
answer,  and  in  this  belief  he  was  justified, 
since  not  even  Furneaux's  uncanny  intel- 


IN  THE  TOILS  59 

ligence  could  suggest  the  fantastic  notion  that 
the  man  who  walked  through  the  rain  the 
previous  night  and  the  man  with  whom  They- 
don  had  dined  that  evening  were  one  and 
the  same  person. 

"I  don't  blame  you  for  adopting  a  policy 
of  partial  concealment,"  said  the  Chief  In- 
spector, dryly.  "You  are  not  the  first,  and 
you  certainly  will  not  be  the  last  witness  from 
whom  the  police  have  to  drag  the  facts.  Now 
that  we  have  reached  more  intimate  terms, 
can  you  help  by  describing  this  stranger?" 

Theydon  complied  at  once.  He  drew  just 
such  a  general  sketch  of  Forbes  as  a  skilled 
observer  of  men  might  be  expected  to'  for- 
mulate after  one  direct  glance  close  at  hand, 
supplemented  by  a  view  into  a  lamp-lit  street 
from  a  second-storey  window  on  a  rainy  night. 

"So  far,  so  good,"  said  Winter.  "You 
have  contrived  to  fill  in  several  details  lacking 
in  the  description  supplied  by  a  policeman 
who  chanced  to  be  standing  at  the  corner 
when  Mrs.  Lester's  visitor  posted  a  letter. 
Did  you  notice  that?" 

"Yes.  Indeed,  I  believed  that,  whether  in- 
tentionally or  not,  he  held  an  open  umbrella 
at  an  angle  which  prevented  the  constable 
from  seeing  his  face." 

"In  fact,  it's  marvellous  what  you  really 
do  know  when  your  memory  is  jogged," 
snapped  Furneaux. 


60  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

Theydon  did  not  resent  the  sarcasm.  He 
smiled  candidly  into  the  little  detective's  eyes. 

"I  suppose  I  deserve  that,"  he  said  meekly. 

"Why  did  you  hide  your  knowledge  of  Mrs. 
Lester's  visitor  from  your  man  Bates?" 

"I  was  rather  ashamed  of  the  subterfuge 
adopted  in  order  to  get  him  out  of  the  room 
while  I  opened  the  window  the  first  time." 

"That  was  understandable  last  night,  but 
I  fail  to  follow  your  reasoning  for  a  policy 
of  silence  when  we  told  you  at  Waterloo  that 
Mrs.  Lester  had  been  killed." 

"I  was  utterly  taken  aback  by  your  news. 
I  wanted  time  to  think.  I  never  meant  to  hide 
any  material  fact  at  this  interview." 

"You  have  contrived  to  delay  and  hamper 
our  inquiry  for  twelve  hours — twenty-four  in 
reality.  I  can't  make  you  out,  Mr.  Theydon. 
You  would  never  have  said  a  word  about  your 
very  accurate  acquaintance  with  this  mysterious 
stranger's  appearance  had  not  last  night's 
rainstorm  left  its  legible  record  on  your 
clothes.  Do  you  now  vouch  for  it  that  the 
man  was  completely  unknown  to  you?" 

"You  are  pleased  to  be  severe,  Mr.  Fur- 
neaux,  but,  having  placed  myself  in  a  false 
position,  I  must  accept  your  strictures.  I  as- 
sure you,  on  my  honor,  that  the  man  I  saw 
was  an  absolute  stranger." 

Happily,  Theydon  was  under  no  compulsion 
to  choose  his  words.  He  met  the  detective's 


IN  THE  TOILS  61 

searching  gaze  unflinchingly.  Fate,  after 
terrifying  him,  had  been  kind.  If  Furneaux 
had  expressed  himself  differently — if,  for  in- 
stance, he  had  said:  "Had  you  ever  before 
seen  the  man?"  or  "Have  you  now  any  rea- 
son for  believing  that  you  know  his  name!" — 
he  would  have  forced  They  don's  hand  in  a 
way  he  was  far  from  suspecting. 

"It  may  surprise  you  to  hear,"  piped  the 
shrill,  cracked  voice,  "that  there  are  dozens 
of  policemen  walking  about  London  who 
would  arrest  you  on  suspicion  had  you  treated 
them  as  you  have  treated  us." 

"Then  I  can  only  say  that  I  am  fortunate 
in  my  inquisitors,"  smiled  Theydon. 

Winter  held  up  a  massive  fist  in  depre- 
cation of  these  acerbities. 

"You  have  nothing  more  to  tell  us!"  he 
queried. 

"Nothing!" 

"Then  we  need  not  trouble  you  further  to- 
night. Of  course,  if  luck  favors  us  and  we 
find  the  gentleman  with  the  classical  fea- 
tures— the  most  unlikely  person  to  commit  a 
murder  I  have  ever  heard  of — we  shall  want 
you  to  identify  him." 

"I  am  at  your  service  at  any  time.  But 
before  you  go  won't  you  enlighten  me  some- 
what! What  did  really  happen!  I  have  not 
even  seen  a  newspaper  account  of  the  crime." 

"Would  you  care  to  examine  No.  171" 


62 

It  was  Furneaux  who  put  the  question,  and 
Theydon  was  genuinely  astonished. 

1  'Do  you  mean—  '  he  began,  but  Furneaux 
laughed,  almost  savagely. 

"I  mean  Mrs.  Lester's  flat,"  he  said.  "The 
poor  woman's  body  is  at  the  mortuary.  If 
you  come  with  us  we  can  reconstruct  the 
crime.  It  occurred  about  this  very  hour  if 
the  doctor's  calculations  are  well  founded." 

Theydon  rose. 

"I  shall  be  most — interested,"  he  said. 
"By  the  way,  Mr.  Furneaux,  yours  is  a 
French  name.  Are  you  a  Frenchman,  may 
I  ask?" 

"A  Jersey  man.  You  think  I  am  adopting 
some  of  the  methods  of  the  French  juge  d 'in- 
struction, eh?" 

"No.  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  believe  that 
you  regard  me  as  a  murderer." 

The  three  passed  out  into  the  hall.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bates  immediately  showed  scared 
faces  at  the  kitchen  door. 

"It's  all  right,  Bates,"  said  Theydon  airily. 
"I'm  not  a  prisoner.  I'll  be  with  you  again 
in  a  few  minutes." 

But  Bates  was  profoundly  disturbed. 

"Wot  beats  me,"  he  said  to  his  wife  when 
they  were  alone,  "is  why  that  little  ferret 
wanted  to  see  the  guv 'nor 's  clothes.  I  looked 
'em  over  carefully  afterwards,  an'  there 
wasn't  a  speck  on  'em  except  some  spots  of 


IN  THE  TOILS  63 

rain  on  the  coat  collar.  It's  a  queer  business, 
no  matter  how  you  look  at  it.  Mr.  They  don's 
manner  was  strange  when  he  kem  in  last 
night.  He  seemed  to  be  list'nin'  for  some- 
thing. I  don't  know  wot  to  make  of  it,  Eliza, 
I  reely  don't." 

In  effect,  since  no  man  is  a  hero  to  his  valet, 
what  would  Tomlinson,  butler  at  No.  11 
Fortescue  Square,  have  thought  of  his  master 
if  told  that  Mrs.  Lester's  last  known  visitor 
was  James  Creighton  Forbes? 


CHAPTER  IV 

A   TELEPHONIC   TALK   AND   ITS    CONSEQUENCES 

THEYDON'S  journalistic  experiences  had 
been,  for  the  most  part,  those  of  the  "special 
correspondent,"  or  descriptive  writer.  He  had 
never  entered  one  of  those  fetid  slums  of  a 
great  city  in  which,  too  often,  murder  is 
done,  never  sickened  with  the  physical  nausea 
of  death  in  its  most  revolting  aspect,  when 
some  unhappy  wretch's  foul  body  serves  only 
to  further  pollute  air  already  vile. 

It  was  passing  strange,  therefore,  that 
Winter  had  no  sooner  opened  the  door  of  No. 
17  than  the  novice  of  the  party  became  aware 
of  a  heavy,  pungent  scent  which  he  associated 
with  some  affrighting  and  unclean  thing.  At 
first  he  swept  aside  the  phantasy.  Strong  as 
he  was,  his  nervous  system  had  been  subjected 
to  severe  strain  that  evening.  He  knew  well 
that  the  mind  can  create  its  own  specters,  that 
the  five  senses  can  be  subjugated  by  forces 
which  science  has  not  as  yet  either  measured 
or  defined. 

Moreover,  he  was  standing  in  a  hall  fur- 
nished with  a  taste  and  quiet  elegance  that 

64 


A'TELEPHONIC  TALK  65 

must  surely  indicate  similar  features  in  each 
room  of  a  suite  which,  in  other  respects,  bore 
an  almost  exact  resemblance  of  his  own  apart- 
ments. In  sheer  protest  against  the  riot  of  an 
overwrought  imagination  he  brushed  a  hand 
across  his  eyes. 

The  chief  inspector  noted  the  action. 

"You  will  find  nothing  grewsome  here,  I 
assure  you,"  he  said,  quietly.  "Beyond  a 
few  signs  of  hurried  rummaging  of  drawers 
and  boxes  there  is  absolutely  no  indication 
of  a  crime  having  been  committed." 

"Mr.  Theydon  came  prepared  to  see 
ghosts,"  squeaked  Furneaux.  "Evidently  he 
is  not  acquainted  with  the  peculiar  smell  of 
a  joss  stick." 

Theydon  turned  troubled  eyes  on  the  wiz- 
ened little  man  who  seemed  to  have  the  power 
of  reading  his  secret  thought. 

"A  joss  stick,"  he  repeated.  "Isn't  that 
some  sort  of  incense  used  by  Chinese  in  their 
temples?" 

"Yes,"  said  Furneaux. 

"Lots  of  ladies  burn  them  in  their  bou- 
doirs nowadays,"  explained  Winter  offhand- 
edly. 

"The  Chinese  burn  them  to  propitiate  evil 
spirits,"  murmured  Furneaux.  "The  Taou 
gods  are  mostly  deities  of  a  very  unpleasant 
frame  of  mind.  The  mere  scowl  of  one  of 
them  from  a  painted  fan  suggests  novel  and 


66  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

painful  forms  of  torture.  I've  seen  Shang 
Ti  grinning  at  me  from  a  porcelain  vase, 
otherwise  exquisite,  and  felt  my  hair  rising." 

"I  do  wish  you  wouldn't  talk  nonsense, 
Charles,"  said  Winter,  frowning  heavily. 

"Am  I  talking  nonsense,  Mr.  Theydon?" 
demanded  Furneaux.  "  Didn't  your  flesh 
creep  when  that  queer  perfume  assailed  your 
nostrils,  which  are  not  yet  altogether  atro- 
phied by  the  reek  of  thousands  of  rank 
cigars  ? ' ' 

"Stop  it!"  commanded  Winter,  throwing 
open  a  door. 

"And  they  christened  him  Leander — 
Leander,  who  swam  the  Hellespont  for  love 
of  a  woman!"  muttered  Furneaux. 

Theydon  began  to  believe  that  both  de- 
tectives were  cranks  of  the  first  order. 
Furneaux,  whose  extraordinary  insight  he 
actually  feared,  was  obviously  an  excellent 
example  of  the  alliance  between  insanity  and 
genius.  In  a  word,  he  failed,  and  not  un- 
reasonably, to  understand  that  when  the 
Jersey  man  was  mouthing  a  strange  jargon 
of  knowledge  and  incoherence,  and  Winter 
was  inclined  to  be  snappy  with  his  subor- 
dinate, and  each  was  more  than  rude  to  the 
other,  they  were  then  giving  tongue  like 
hounds  hot  on  the  trail. 

Winter's  Christian  names  were  James 
Leander,  the  latter  being  conferred  for  no 


'A  TELEPHONIC  TALK  67 

more  classical  reason  than  his  father's  as- 
sociation with  a  famous  boating  club,  but  the 
fact  supplied  Furneaux  with  material  for 
many  a  quip.  These  things  Theydon  learnt 
later.  At  present  he  was  giving  all  his  at- 
tention to  Winter,  who  led  the  way  into  a 
daintly  furnished  bedroom.  The  electric 
lights  were  governed  by  two  switches.  A  pair 
of  lamps  occupied  the  usual  place  in  front  of 
a  dressing  table;  a  third  was  suspended  from 
a  canopy  over  the  bed,  and  was  controlled  also 
by  an  alternate  switch  behind  the  bolster. 
Winter  turned  on  all  three  lights,  so  the  room 
was  brilliantly  illuminated. 

Any  place  less  likely  to  become  the  scene  of 
a  brutal  crime  could  hardly  be  imagined.  It 
looked  exactly  what  it  was,  the  bedchamber 
of  a  refined  and  well-bred  woman,  whose 
trained  sense  of  color  and  design  was  shown 
by  the  harmony  of  carpet,  rugs,  wall  paper 
and  furniture. 

'Winter  pointed  to  a  slight  depression  on 
the  side  of  the  bed.  A  white  linen  coverlet 
was  rumpled  as  though  some  one  had  sat 
there. 

"That  is  where  Ann  Rogers,  the  maid, 
found  her  mistress  at  ten  o'clock  this  morn- 
ing," he  said.  "As  you  see,  the  bed  had  not 
been  slept  in.  Indeed,  Mrs.  Lester  was  fully 
dressed.  My  belief  is  that  she  was  pounced 
on  the  instant  she  entered  the  room — probably 


68  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

to  retire  for  the  night — strangled  before  she 
could  utter -a  sound,  and  flung  here  when 
dead." 

Again  Theydon  was  aware  of  the  subtle, 
penetrating,  and  not  wholly  unpleasing  scent 
which  Furneaux  had  attributed  to  the  burn- 
ing of  a  joss  stick,  but  his  mind  was  focused 
on  the  detective's  words,  which  suggested  a 
queer  discrepancy  between  certain  vague  pos- 
sibilities already  flitting  through  his  brain 
and  the  terrible  drama  as  it  presented  itself 
to  a  skilled  criminologist. 

"But,"  he  said,  almost  protestingly,  "from 
what  I  have  seen  of  Mrs.  Lester  she  was  a 
strong  and  active  woman.  It  is  inconceivable 
that  the  man  who  came  here  last  night  could 
have  murdered  her  while  I  was  writing  two 
brief  notes.  I  am  positive  he  did  not  remain 
five  minutes,  and  Bates  or  I,  or  both  of  us, 
must  have  heard  some  trampling  of  feet,  some 
indications  of  a  struggle.  Moreover,  you 
think  she  was  about  to  retire.  Doesn't  that 
opinion  conflict  with  the  known  facts?" 

"What  known  facts?" 

"Well — er — those  I  have  mentioned.  The 
brief  visit,  the  open  nature  of  the  arrival  and 
departure,  the  posting  of  a  letter,  which,  by 
the  way,  may  have  been  written  in  his  pres- 
ence. ' ' 

"It  was." 

Theydon  positively  jumped.     He  would  not 


'A  TELEPHONIC  TALK  69 

be  surprised  now  if  Forbes 's  name  came  out. 

"How  do  you  know  that!"  he  asked. 

"Mrs.  Lester  wrote  to  an  aunt  in  Ox- 
fordshire, a  lady  who  lives  in  the  village  of 
Iffley,  near  the  first  lock  on  the  Thames  below 
Oxford.  As  it  happened,  this  aunt,  a  Miss 
Beale,  was  lunching  with  a  friend  in  Oxford 
today,  and  some  one  showed  her  an  early 
edition  of  a  London  evening  newspaper  con- 
taining an  account  of  the  murder.  Instead  of 
yielding  to  hysteria,  and  passing  from  one 
fainting  fit  into  another,  Miss  Beale  had  the 
rare  good  sense  to  go  straight  to  the  police 
station.  One  of  our  men  has  interviewed  her 
this  evening,  and  she  is  coming  here  tomor- 
row, but  in  the  meantime  the  Oxford  police 
telephoned  the  gist  of  the  letter,  which  is 
headed  'Monday,  11:30  p.  m.'  The  hour  is 
not  quite  accurate,  but  near  enough,  since  the 
context  shows  that  'a  friend'  had  just  called 
and  given  certain  information  which  had 
determined  the  writer  to  leave  London  'to- 
morrow'— meaning  today — 'or  Wednesday  at 
latest.'  So  you  see,  Mr.  Theydon,  if  the  un- 
known is  an  honest  man,  he  will  soon  hear  of 
the  hue  and  cry  raised  by  the  murder,  and  de- 
clare himself  to  the  police.  Indeed,  for  all  I 
know,  he  may  have  reported  himself  to  the 
Yard  already.  In  that  event  you  will  prob- 
ably meet  him  again  quite  soon." 

An  electric  bell  jarred  at  the  end  of  the 


70  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

main  passage.  It  smote  on  their  ears  with 
the  loud  emphasis  of  a  pistol  shot.  Even  the 
detectives  were  startled,  and  Winter  said, 
in  a  tone  of  distinct  annoyance: 

"Go  and  see  who  the  deuce  that  is,  Fur- 
neaux." 

Furneaux  returned  promptly  with  Bates, 
pallid  and  apologetic. 

"Beg  pardon,  sir,"  said  the  intruder,  ad- 
dressing Theydon,  but  allowing  his  eyes  to 
roam  furtively  about  the  room  as  though  he 
expected  to  see  something  ghoul-like  and 
sinister,  "Mr.  Forbes  has  rung  up — ' 

They  don's  voice  literally  quavered.  For 
the  first  time  in  his  life  he  knew  why  a  woman 
shrieks  in  the  stress  of  sudden  excitement. 

"Tell  Mr.  Forbes  I  am  still  engaged  with 
the  gentlemen  from  Scotland  Yard,"  he 
gasped.  "I'll  give  him  a  call  the  moment 
I'm  free.  He  will  understand.  Anyhow,  I 
can't  explain  further  now." 

"Yes,  sir,"  and  Bates  disappeared. 

"Mr.  Forbes?  The  gentleman  you  were 
dining  with?"  inquired  Winter. 

"Yes,"  said  Theydon.  He  knew  he  ought 
to  add  something  by  way  of  explanation,  but 
his  heart  was  thumping  madly,  and  he  dared 
not  trust  his  voice. 

"You  told  him,  I  suppose,  that  Scotland 
Yard  was  worrying  you,  and  he  wants  to 
know  the  result?" 


A  TELEPHONIC  TALK  71 

i 

Then  Theydon  saw  an  avenue  of  escape, 
and  took  it  eagerly. 

"I  spoke  of  the  murder,  of  course,"  he 
said,  "but  Mr.  Forbes  was  hardly  interested. 
He  had  seen  the  newspaper  placards,  and 
that  was  all  he  knew  of  it.  The  truth  is,  he 
is  wholly  wrapped  up  in  a  scheme  for  re- 
forming mankind  by  excluding  airships  and 
aeroplanes  from  warlike  operations,  and 
found  me  a  somewhat  preoccupied  listener. 
He  wants  my  help,  such  as  it  is,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  the  present  call  is  a  preliminary  to  an- 
other meeting  tomorrow." 

"Why  not  go  to  him?  We'll  wait.  We 
can  do  nothing  more  tonight  after  leaving 
here." 

"Speaking  candidly,  I  am  not  in  a  mood 
to  discuss  such  visionary  projects.  I  shall  be 
glad  if  Mr.  Forbes  has  gone  to  bed  when 
I  do  ring  him  up." 

Winter  shook  his  head. 

"Excuse  me,  Mr.  Theydon,  but  I  am  older 
than  you,  and  may  'venture  on  advice/  :'  he 
said.  "A  writer  who  has  his  way  to  make 
in  the  world  cannot  afford  to  slight  a  man  of 
Mr.  Forbes 's  standing.  Go  to  him  at  once. 
It  will  please  him.  Don't  hurry." 

Theydon  realized  that  a  continued  refusal 
would  certainly  set  Furneaux's  wits  at  work, 
and  he  dreaded  the  outcome.  He  went  with- 
out another  word.  When  the  outer  door  had 


72  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

closed  behind  him  Winter  turned  to  Fur- 
neaux. 

"Well?"  he  said. 

For  answer  Furneaux  waved  a  hand  and 
tiptoed  into  the  hall.  Waiting  until  he  heard 
the  door  of  No.  18  slam  he  opened  the  latch 
of  No.  17  so  cautiously  that  no  sound  was 
forthcoming.  Soon  he  had  an  ear  to  They- 
don's  letter  box  and  was  following  attentively 
a  one-sided  conversation. 

Now,  Theydon  had  thought  hard  during 
the  few  strides  from  one  flat  to  the  other. 
His  telephone  was  fixed  close  to  the  party 
wall  dividing  the  two  sets  of  apartments  and 
he  was  not  certain  that,  in  the  absolute 
quietude  prevailing  in  Innesmore  Mansions  at 
that  late  hour,  a  voice  could  not  be  overheard. 
True,  he  did  not  count  on  Furneaux  playing 
the  eavesdropper  at  the  slit  of  the  letter  box, 
but  he  resolved  to  take  no  risks  and  say 
nothing  that  any  one  could  make  capital  of. 

So,  when  he  had  asked  the  exchange  to  re- 
connect him  with  the  caller  who  had  just  rung 
up.  and  he  was  put  through,  this  is  what  Fur- 
neaux heard: 

"That  you,  Mr.  Forbes.  Sorry  I  sent  my 
man  just  now  with  a  message  that  must  have 
sounded  rather  curt,  but  the  Scotland  Yard 
people  kindly  excused  me,  so  I  can  give  you  a 
minute  or  two.  .  .  .  No,  I'm  sorry,  but  I 
cannot  come  to  luncheon  tomorrow,  nor  go  to 


A  TELEPHONIC  TALK  73 

Brooklands  again  this  week.  You  see,  this 
dreadful  murder  which  I  spoke  of  will  neces- 
sitate my  presence  at  an  inquest,  and  the 
police  seem  to  attach  much  significance  to  the 
visit  to  Mrs.  Lester  last  night  of  a  man  whom 
I  saw  in  the  street,  and  whom  Bates  and  I 
heard  entering  and  leaving  the  poor  lady's 
flat.  .  .  .  Bates?  0,  he  is  my  general  fac- 
totum. He  and  his  wife  keep  house  for  me. 
.  .  .  Yes,  I'll  gladly  let  you  know  the 
earliest  date  when  I'll  be  free.  Then  you 
and  I  can  go  into  the  flying  proposition 
thoroughly.  .  .  .  No.  The  detectives  have 
apparently  not  got  any  clew  to  the  murderer, 
nor  even  discovered  any  motive  for  the  crime. 
They  have  taken  me  into  No.  17.  In  fact, 
I  was  there  when  your  call  was  made.  .  .  . 
The  murderer  ransacked  the  place  thoroughly, 
but  did  not  touch  money  or  jewelry,  I  under- 
stand. The  only  peculiar  thing,  if  I  may  so 
describe  it,  about  the  place,  is  the  scent  of  a 
burnt  joss  stick.  It  clings  to  the  passage  and 
the  bedroom  in  which  the  body  was  found. 
.  .  .  Ah,  by  the  way,  Mrs.  Lester  wrote  a 
letter,  which  her  visitor  posted,  and  the  ad- 
dressee, her  aunt,  is  in  communication  with 
the  police.  The  text  tends  to  clear  the  man 
of  suspicion.  .  .  .  Yes,  if,  by  chance,  I  find 
myself  at  liberty  tomorrow,  I'll  'phone  you  at 
your  city  office.  I'll  find  the  number  in  the 
directory,  of  course!  ...  0,  thanks — I'll  jot 


74  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

it  down— 00400  Bank.  .  .  .  Goodnight!  Too 
bad  that  this  wretched  affair  should  interfere 
with  our  crusade,  which,  the  more  I  think 
of  it,  the  stronger  it  appeals.  Au  revoir, 
then." 

In  reality,  Forbes  had  not  said  one  word 
about  his  peace  propaganda,  but  he  had  ev- 
idently been  quick  to  realize  that  Theydon  was 
purposely  giving  their  talk  a  twist  in  that 
direction.  A  muttered  "I  understand — per- 
fectly," showed  this,  and  he  did  not  strive 
to  conceal  the  alarm  which  possessed  him 
when  Theydon  spoke  of  the  joss  stick.  He 
murmured  distinctly,  " Great  Heavens!  Then 
I  was  not  mistaken,"  and  again  voiced  his 
distress  on  hearing  of  the  letter. 

But  he  made  matters  easy  by  pressing 
Theydon  to  come  and  see  him  on  the  morrow, 
either  at  his  office  in  Old  Broad  Street  or  at 
his  residence.  On  the  whole,  Theydon  did  not 
care  who  heard  what  he  had  said,  but  it  was 
a  relief  to  find  that  he  had  to  ring  for  re- 
admission  to  No.  17. 

Furneaux  opened  the  door. 

"You  soon  got  rid  of  your  friend,  then?" 
said  the  detective,  while  they  were  on  the 
way  to  rejoin  Winter. 

"Yes.  It  was  just  what  I  imagined — a  press- 
ing invitation  to  plunge  forthwith  into  Mr. 
Forbes 's  project  for  the  regeneration  of  man- 
kind. I  had  to  tell  him  frankly  that  you 


A  TELEPHONIC  TALK  75 

gentlemen  had  first  claim  on  me.  I  suppose  I 
shall  be  wanted  at  the  inquest?" 

1  'Not  tomorrow.  The  coroner  will  hear 
the  medical  evidence,  and  that  of  Ann  Rogers, 
if  she  is  in  a  condition  to  appear,  and  there 
will  be  an  adjournment  for  a  week." 

"Ah,  that  reminds  me.  Didn't  Mrs.  Les- 
ter's servant  admit  the  visitor  last  night?" 

Theydon  put  the  question  advisedly.  He 
was  calmer  now,  and  had  made  up  his  mind 
as  to  the  course  he  should  pursue.  Although  he 
had  assured  Winter  that  he  would  recognize 
the  stranger  if  confronted  with  him,  and,  if 
Forbes  was  brought  into  the  inquiry,  the  ad- 
mission might  prove  awkward,  he  meant  to 
say  that  he  had,  indeed,  noticed  a  remarkable 
resemblance  in  the  millionaire  to  the  man  he 
had  seen  looking  up  at  the  name  tablet  on 
the  corner,  but  felt  that  the  likeness  was 
only  one  of  those  singular  coincidences  which 
abound  in  a  cosmopolitan  city. 

The  smartest  cross-examiner  at  the  bar 
could  not  shake  him  if  he  took  that  stand. 
The  sheer  improbability  of  Forbes  being  the 
mysterious  visitor  would  justify  his  attitude, 
and  the  notion  was  so  consoling  that  he  faced 
the  two  detectives  with  new  confidence  and 
a  self-possession  that  was  exceedingly  pleas- 
ant when  compared  with  his  earlier  em- 
barrassment. 

' ' No, ' '  said  Winter.    *  'By  a  most  remarkable 


76  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

chance,  Ann  Rogers  was  given  leave  to  spend 
the  night  with  her  father,  who  lives  in  Cam- 
den  Town.  He  is  an  old  man  and  was  taken 
ill  last  evening.  He  believes  he  asked  some 
one  to  telegraph  to  his  daughter,  asking  her 
to  come  to  him.  She  certainly  received  a  tele- 
gram and  as  certainly  did  visit  him.  Of 
course,  that  phase  of  the  affair  will  be  cleared 
up  thoroughly,  but  the  main  facts  are  indispu- 
table. Ann  Rogers  has  her  own  latchkey.  As 
Mrs.  Lester  usually  sat  up  late,  being  a  lover 
of  books,  and  seldom  stirred  before  ten  o'clock, 
the  maid  waited  until  that  hour  before  bring- 
ing her  mistress's  cup  of  tea.  That  stain  on 
the  carpet  near  the  door  shows  where  the 
tray  fell  from  her  hands." 

Sometimes  an  artist  obtains  the  strongest 
effect  by  one  deft  sweep  of  the  brush. 
Winter,  though  he  would  have  blushed  if 
described  as  an  artist  in  words,  had  achieved 
a  similar  result  by  his  concluding  sentence. 
Theydon  pictured  the  scene.  He  saw  the 
limp  form  thrown  across  the  bed,  the  dis- 
torted face,  the  hands  and  arms  posed  gro- 
tesquely. 

He  heard  the  shrill  scream  of  the  ter- 
rified servant,  an  elderly  woman  whom  Bates 
described  as  "a  quiet  body,"  and  could 
imagine  the  clatter  of  the  laden  tray  as  it 
dropped  from  nerveless  fingers.  A  sort  of 
fury  rose  within  him.  Mrs.  Lester  had  been 


'A  TELEPHONIC  TALK  77 

done  to  death  in  a  horrible  and  insensate 
way,  and  no  matter  who  suffered,  be  he  mil- 
lionaire or  pauper,  the  wretch  who  committed 
the  crime  should  be  made  to  pay  the  penalty 
of  the  law. 

In  that  moment  he  forgot  Evelyn  Forbes, 
and  thought  only  of  the  fair  and  gracious 
woman  whose  agonized  spirit  had  taken  flight 
under  the  compulsion  of  the  tiger  grip  of 
some  human  brute  now  moving  among  his 
fellow-creatures  unknown  and  unsuspected.  It 
was  inconceivable  that  Forbes  should  be 
guilty,  but  why  should  he  not  avow  his  ac- 
quaintance with  the  victim,  and  thus  aid  the 
police  in  their  quest? 

He  glowered  savagely  at  the  telltale  stain, 
and  vowed  to  rid  his  conscience  of  an  incubus. 
He  would  wait  till  the  morrow  and  force 
Forbes  to  come  out  into  the  open.  Other- 
wise— 

"You  wish  you  had  the  murderer  here 
now?" 

Furneaux  spoke  softly,  and  with  no  trace 
of  his  wonted  irony,  but  Theydon  was  aware 
that  once  more  the  little  detective  had  peered 
into  his  very  soul. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  and  there  was  a  new 
gravity  in  his  tone.  "I  do  wish  that.  I 
have  never  before  been  brought  in  contact 
with  a  crime  of  this  magnitude.  It  conveys 
a  sort  of  personal  responsibility.  To  think 


78  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

that  I  was  in  my  room,  reading  about  avia- 
tion, while  a  woman's  life  was  being  choked 
out  of  her  within  a  few  feet  of  where  I  was 
s-eated!  0,  it  is  monstrous!  Let  me  tell  you 
two,  here  and  now,  that  if  I  can  do  anything 
to  bring  Mrs.  Lester's  slayer  to  justice, 
you  can  count  on  me,  no  matter  what  the 
cost." 

"I'm  sure  you  mean  what  you  say,  Mr. 
Theydon,"  said  Winter  soothingly.  "Well, 
I  suppose  we  can  do  no  more  tonight.  I  have 
little  else  to  tell  you — 

"The  skull — the  ivory  skull!"  put  in  Fur- 
neaux. 

For  an  instant  an  expression  of  annoyance 
flitted  across  the  chief  inspector's  good- 
humored  face.  Theydon  did  not  see  it,  be- 
cause Furneaux's  odd-sounding  words  caused 
him  to  look  with  astonishment  at  the  man 
who  uttered  them. 

"An  ivory  skull!"  he  cried.  "What  has  an 
ivory  skull  to  do  with  the  murder  of  Mrs. 
Lester?" 

"We  cannot  even  begin  to  guess  at  its 
meaning  yet,"  said  Winter,  who,  after  one 
fierce  glance  at  his  colleague,  had  recovered 
his  poise.  "That  is  why  I  did  not  mention 
it.  I  hate  the  introduction  of  bizarre  features 
into  an  inquiry  of  this  sort.  But,  now  that 
the  thing  has  been  spoken  of,  I  may  as  well 
state  that  when  the  medical  examination  was 


A  TELEPHONIC  TALK  79 

being  made  at  the  mortuary  a  tiny  skull,  not 
bigger  than  a  pea,  and  made  of  ivory,  was- 
found  inside  Mrs.  Lester's  underbodice.  The 
curious  fact  is  that  it  was  loose.  Had  it 
been  attached  to  a  cord,  or  secured  in  some 
way,  one  might  regard  it  as  a  charm  or 
amulet,  because  some  women,  even  in  the 
London  of  today,  are  not  beyond  the  reach  of 
superstition  in  such  matters.  But,  as  I  say, 
it  was  not  safeguarded  at  all,  so  we  may 
reasonably  assume  that  it  was  not  carried 
habitually.  Of  course,  Purneaux  readily 
evolved  a  far-fetched  theory  that  it  is  a  sign, 
or  symbol,  and  was  thrust  out  of  sight  among 
the  clothing  on  the  dead  woman's  breast  by 
the  man  who  killed  her.  But  that  is  idle  guess- 
work. We  of  the  Yard  seldom  pay  heed  to 
theatrical  notions  of  that  kind.  Here  is  the 
article.  I  don't  mind  letting  you  see  it,  but 
kindly  remember  that  its  existence  must  not 
be  made  known.  I  must  have  your  promise 
not  to  mention  it  to  a  living  creature." 

Furneaux  chuckled  derisively. 

"That  is  precisely  the  sort  of  thing  any- 
body would  say  who  attached  no  importance 
to  the  exhibit,"  he  piped. 

Winter  so  nearly  lost  his  temper  that  he 
repressed  the  retort  on  his  lips.  He  contented 
himself,  however,  with  producing  a  small 
white  object  from  his  waistcoat  pocket,  and 
handed  it  to  Theydon.  It  was  a  bit  of  ivory, 


80  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

hollow,  and  very  light,  and  fashioned  as  a 
skull. 

Yet,  it  was  by  no  means  an  ordinary  crea- 
tion. The  artist  who  fashioned  it  had  grati- 
fied a  morbid  taste  by  imparting  to  the  eye- 
less sockets  and  close-set  rows  of  teeth1  a 
malign  and  threatening  grin.  Wickedness, 
not  death,  was  suggested,  but  the  crafts- 
manship was  faultless.  A  collector  would 
have  paid  a  large  sum  for  it,  while  the  av- 
erage citizen  would  refuse  to  have  it  in  his 
house. 

"What  an  extraordinary  thing,"  said 
Theydon,  turning  the  curio  round  and  round 
in  his  fingers. 

"It's  wonderfully  well  carved,"  agreed 
Winter. 

"From  that  point  of  view  it's  a  master- 
piece, but  what  I  meant  was  the  astounding 
fact  that  it  should  have  been  discovered  on 
the  dead  woman's  body.  Was  it  placed  over 
her  heart?" 

"Why  do  you  ask  that?"  came  the  sharp 
demand. 

"Because — if  it  is  a  token  of  some  vendetta 
— if  the  murderer  wished  to  signify  that  he 
had  glutted  his  vengeance — " 

"0,  you're  as  bad  as  Furneaux,"  cried 
Winter  impatiently.  "Give  it  to  me.  I  must 
be  off.  The  hour  is  long  past  midnight  and 
I  have  a  busy  day  before  me  tomorrow." 


A  TELEPHONIC  TALK  81 

Back  in  the  seclusion  of  his  own  rooms, 
Theydon  debated  the  question  whether  or  not 
he  should  endeavor  to  communicate  with 
Forbes  again  that  night.  Somehow  it  seemed 
to  him  that  Forbes  would  be  most  concerned 
at  hearing  of  the  gray  car.  And  what  of 
the  ivory  skull? 

Suppose  he  knew  of  that!  But  a  certain 
revulsion  of  feeling  had  come  over  Theydon 
since  the  sheer  brutality  of  the  murder  had 
been  revealed.  He  failed  to  see  now  why  he 
should  be  so  solicitous  for  Forbes 's  welfare. 
No  matter  what  private  purpose  the  man 
might  serve  by  concealing  his  visit  to  Mrs. 
Lester,  it  ought  to  give  way  before  the  para- 
mount importance  of  tracking  a  pitiless  and 
callous  criminal. 

So  Theydon  hardened  his  heart  and  went  to 
bed,  and,  being  sound  in  mind  and  constitu- 
tion, slept  like  a  just  man  wearied.  Nev- 
ertheless, the  last  thing  he  saw  before  the 
curtain  fell  on  his  tired  brain  was  an  ivory 
skull  dancing  in  the  darkness. 

Greatly  as  the  many  problems  attached  to 
Mrs.  Lester's  death  bewildered  him,  he  would 
have  been  even  more  perplexed  if  he  had 
overheard  the  conversation  between  Winter 
and  Furneaux  when  they  entered  a  taxi  and 
gave  Scotland  Yard  as  their  destination. 

"Look  here,  Charles,"  began  Winter 
firmly;  but  the  other  stayed  him  with  a 


82  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

clutch    of    thin,   nervous    fingers    on    an    arm 
strong  enough  to  fell  an  ox. 

"Listen  first,  James — lecture  me  after- 
ward," pleaded  Furneaux.  "I  can't  help 
yielding  to  impulse.  And  why  should  I  strive 
to  help  it,  anyhow?  How  often  has  impulse 
led  me  to  the  goal  when  by  every  known  rule 
of  evidence  I  was  completely  beaten!  That 
is  my  plea.  That  is  why  I  brought  that  young 
fellow  into  No.  17,  and  watched  the  story  of 
the  tragedy  reshaping  itself  in  his  imagina- 
tion. That  is  why,  too,  I  spoke  of  the  ivory 
skull.  Think  what  it  means  to  one  with  the 
writer's  temperament.  The  skull  will  never 
leave  his  mind's  eye.  It  will  focus  and 
control  his  thoughts  and  actions.  And  I  feel 
it  in  my  bones  that  only  by  keeping  in  touch 
with  Mr.  Francis  Theydon  shall  we  solve 
the  Innesmore  Mansions  mystery.  I  can't  ex- 
plain why  I  think  this,  no  more  than  the  receiver 
of  a  wireless  message  can  account  for  the  waves 
of  energy  it  picks  up  from  the  void  and  trans- 
mutes into  the  ordered  sequences  of  the  Morse 
code.  All  I  know  is  that  when  I  am  near  him 
I  am,  as  the  children  say,  'warm,'  and  when 
away  from  him,  'cold.'  While  he  was  examin- 
ing the  skull  I  was  positively  'hot,'  and  was  half 
inclined  to  treat  him  as  a  thought  transference 
medium  and  order  him  sternly  to  speak.  .  .  . 
No.  Be  calm!  I  even  bid  you  be  honest. 
When  have  you,  ever  before,  admitted  an 


A  TELEPHONIC  TALK  83 

outsider  to  your  councils?  And,  if  you  make 
an  exception  of  Theydon,  why  are  you  doing 
it!" 

Winter  bit  the  end  off  a  cigar  with  a 
vicious  jerk  of  his  round  head.  He  struck 
a  match  and  created  such  a  volume  of  smoke 
that  Furneaux  coughed  affectedly. 

1  'The  real  clew,"  he  said  at  last,  "rests 
with  the  gray  car.  What  did  you  make  of 
that?" 

"That,  my  bulky  friend,  will  figure  in  my 
memory  as  a  reproach  for  many  a  year. 
When,  if  ever,  I  am  tempted  to  preen  my- 
self on  some  peculiarly  close  piece  of 
.ratiocinative  reasoning,  I  shall  say:  'Little 
man,  pigmy,  remember  the  gray  car.' 

"You  think  that  some  one  had  the  im- 
pudence to  follow  us,  watch  us  in  Waterloo, 
and  take  up  Theydon 's  trail  when  we  had 
revealed  it?" 

"A-ha.     It  touched  you,  too,  did  it?" 

"But  why?" 

"The  some  one  in  question  wants  to  know 
that." 

"You  mean  they  are  anxious  to  find  out 
what  we  are  doing?" 

"Exactly." 

Winter  laughed  cheerfully. 

"Before  long  I  shall  begin  to  enjoy  this 
hunt,  Charles.  I  like  to  find  originality  in  a 
felon.  It  varies  the  routine.  At  any;  rate, 


84  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

it  is  something  new  that  you  and  I  should 
be  shadowed  by  the  very  people  we  are  in 
pursuit  of — 0,  I  was  nearly  forgetting.  Any- 
thing fresh  in  that  telephone  talk?" 

"It  seemed  all  right." 

"Seemed?". 

"Well,  it  was  too  straightforward.  They- 
don  puzzles  me.  I  admit  it  frankly.  He 
also  worries  me.  But  let  me  handle  him  in 
my  own  way.  Have  no  fear  that  he  will  use 
our  material  for  newspaper  purposes.  With 
regard  to  the  Innesmore  Mansions  affair, 
Theydon  will  lie  close  as  a  fish.  Why?  No 
use  asking  you,  of  course.  You  despise  intui- 
tion. When  you  die  some  one  should  begin  your 
epitaph : '  From  information  received. '  But  I  '11 
stick  to  Theydon.  See  if  I  don't,  even  if  I  have 
to  go  up  with  him  in  one  of  Forbes 's  airships." 


CHAPTER  V 

A   LEAP    IN    THE    DARK 

WITH  the  morning  Theydon  brought  a 
mature  and  impartial  judgment  to  bear  on  his 
perplexities.  The  average  man,  if  asked  to 
form  an  opinion  on  any  difficult  point,  will 
probably  arrive  at  a  saner  decision  during 
the  first  pipe  after  breakfast  than  at  any 
other  given  hour  of  the  day.  Excellent 
physiological  reasons  account  for  this  truism. 
The  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body  is  then 
working  under  the  most  favorable  conditions. 

It  is  free  from  the  strain  of  affairs.  The 
cold,  clear  morning  light  divests  problems  of 
the  undue  importance,  or,  it  may  be,  the 
glamour  of  novelty,  which  they  possessed 
overnight.  At  any  rate,  Frank  Theydon, 
clenching  a  pipe  between  his  teeth,  and  gazing 
thoughtfully  through  an  open  window  at  the 
trees  in  Innesmore  Gardens,  reviewed  yes- 
terday 's  happenings  calmly  and  critically,  and 
arrived  at  the  settled  conviction  that  his 
proper  course  was  to  visit  Scotland  Yard  and 
make  known  to  the  authorities  the  one  vital 
fact  he  had  withheld  from  their  ken  thus  far. 

It  was  not  for  him  to  assess  the  significance 

85 


86  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

of  Mr.  Forbes 's  desire  to  remain  in  the  back- 
ground. If  the  millionaire's  excuse,  or  ex- 
planation, of  his  failure  to  communicate  at 
once  with  the  Criminal  Investigation  De- 
partment was  a  sufficiently  valid  one,  Scot- 
land Yard  would  be  satisfied  and  might  agree 
to  keep  his  name  out  of  the  inquiry. 

On  the  other  hand,  he,  Theydon,  might  be 
balking  the  course  of  justice  by  holding  his 
tongue.  There  was  yet  a  third  possibility,  one 
fraught  with  personal  discredit.  Mr.  Forbes 
himself  might  realize  that  a  policy  of  candor 
offered  the  only  dignified  course. 

Suppose  he  was  minded  to  tell  the  de- 
tectives that  he  was  the  man  who  visited  Mrs. 
Lester  shortly  before  midnight,  what  would 
Winter  and  Furneaux  think  of  the  young 
gentleman  who  had  actually  dined  with 
Forbes  before  they  took  him  into  their  con- 
fidence— who  heard  with  such  righteous  in- 
dignation how  Mrs.  Lester  met  her  death — 
yet  brazenly  concealed  the  fact  that  he  had 
just  left  the  house  of  one  whom  they  were 
so  anxious  to  meet  and  question? 

Of  course,  the  radiant  vision  of  Evelyn 
Forbes  intruded  on  this  well-considered  and 
unemotional  analysis;  but  Theydon  resolutely 
shook  his  head. 

"No,  by  Jove!"  he  communed.  "You 
mustn't  make  an  ass  of  yourself,  my  boy, 
because  a  pretty  girl  was  gracious  for  an 


'A  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  87 

hour  or  so.  Be  honest  with  yourself, 
old  chap!  If  there  were  no  Evelyn,  or  if 
Evelyn  were  harelipped  and  squinted,  you 
wouldn't  hesitate  a  second  —  now,  would 
you?" 

Yet  he  had  given  a  promise.  How  reconcile 
an  immediate  call  on  Scotland  Yard  with  the 
guarantee  of  secrecy  demanded  by  Forbes? 
Well,  he  must  put  himself  right  with  Forbes 
without  delay — tell  him  straightforwardly 
that  the  bond  could  not  hold.  Theydon  was 
no  lawyer,  but  he  was  assured  that  an  agree- 
ment founded  on  positive  wrong  was  not  ten- 
able, legally  or  morally. 

He  would  be  adamant  with  Forbes,  and 
decline  to  countenance  any  plea  in  support  of 
continued  silence.  If  Forbes 's  demand  was 
reasonable,  Scotland  Yard  would  grant  it. 
If  justice  compelled  Forbes  to  come  out  into 
the  open,  no  private  citizen  should  attempt 
to  defeat  the  ends  of  justice. 

"So  that  settles  it,"  announced  Theydon, 
firmly  if  not  cheerfully.  "I'll  ring  up  Forbes, 
and  get  the  thing  over  and  done  with.  I'll 
never  see  his  daughter  again,  I  suppose,  but 
that  can't  be  helped.  'Tis  better  to  have 
seen  and  lost  than  never  to  have  seen  at  all." 

He  turned  from  the  window,  walked  to  the 
fireplace,  tapped  his  pipe  firmly  on  the  grate, 
and  was  about  to  go  into  the  hall  and  call  up 
the  telephone  exchange,  when  the  door-bell 


88  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

rang.  He  was  aware  of  a  muffled  conversa- 
tion between  Bates  and  a  visitor.  Then  the 
valet  appeared,  obviously  ill  at  ease. 

"If  you  please,  sir,"  he  announced,  "a 
lady,  a  Miss  Beale,  of  Oxford,  who  says  she 
is  Mrs.  Lester's  aunt,  wishes  to  see  you." 

Theydon  was  immensely  surprised,  as  well 
he  might  be.  But  there  was  only  one  thing 
to  be  done. 

"Show  her  in,"  he  said. 

Miss  Beale  entered.  She  was  slight  of  figure, 
middle-aged  and  gray-haired.  The  wanness 
of  her  thin  features  was  accentuated  by  an 
attire  of  deep  mourning,  but  the  pallor  in 
her  cheeks  fled  for  an  instant  when  she  set 
eyes  on  Theydon. 

"Pray  forgive  the  intrusion,"  she  faltered. 
"I — I  expected  to  meet  an  older  man." 

It  was  a  curious  utterance,  and  Theydon 
tried  to  relieve  her  evident  nervousness  by 
being  mildly  humorous. 

"I  hope  to  correct  my  juvenile  appearance 
in  course  of  time,"  he  said,  smiling.  "Mean- 
while, won't  you  be  seated?  You  are  not 
quite  unknown  to  me,  Miss  Beale.  That  is — 
I  heard  of  you  last  night  from  the  Scotland 
Yard  people." 

She  sat  down  at  once,  but  seemed  to  be  at 
a  loss  for  words.  Her  lips  trembled,  and 
Theydon  thought  she  was  going  to  cry. 

"Have    you    traveled    from    Oxford    this 


"A  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  89 

morning?"  he  said,  simulating  a  courteous 
nonchalance  he  was  far  from  feeling.  "If  so, 
you  must  have  started  from  home  at  an  un- 
godly hour.  Let  me  have  some  breakfast 
prepared  for  you." 

' '  No — no, ' '   she   stammered. 

"Well,  a  cup  of  tea,  then?  Come,  now,  no 
woman  ever  refuses  a  cup  of  tea." 

"You  are  very  kind." 

He  rang  the  bell. 

"I  would  not  have  ventured  to  call  on  you 
if  I  had  not  seen  your  name  in  the  news- 
paper," she  went  on. 

Miss  Beale  certainly  had  the  knack  of  say- 
ing unexpected  things.  It  was  nothing  new 
that  Theydon  should  find  his  own  name  in 
print,  but  on  this  occasion  he  could  not 
choose  but  associate  the  distinction  with  the 
crime  in  No.  17;  that  he  should  be  mentioned 
in  connection  with  it  was  neither  anticipated 
nor  pleasing.  At  the  same  time  he  realized 
the  astounding  fact  that  he  had  not  even 
glanced  at  a  newspaper  during  twenty-four 
hours. 

"What  in  the  world  have  the  newspapers 
to  say  about  me?"  he  cried. 

"It — it  said — that  Mr.  Francis  Berrold 
Theydon,  the  well-known  author,  lived  in  No. 
18,  the  flat  exactly  opposite  that  which  my 
unhappy  niece  occupied.  I — I  have  read  some 
of  your  books,  Mr.  Theydon,  and  I  pictured 


90  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

you  quite  a  serious-looking  person  of  my  own 
age." 

He  laughed.  Bates  entered,  and  was  almost 
shocked  at  finding  his  master  in  such  lively 
mood. 

"Oh,  this  lady  has  traveled  from  Oxford 
this  morning;  a  cup  of  tea  and  some  nice 
toast,  please,  Bates,"  said  Theydon.  Then 
when  the  two  were  alone  together  again,  he 
brushed  aside  the  question  of  his  age  as  ir- 
relevant. 

"I  assure  you  that  since  this  time  yesterday 
I  have  lost  some  of  the  careless  buoyancy 
of  youth,"  he  said.  "I  had  not  the  honor  of 
Mrs.  Lester 's  acquaintance,  but  I  knew  her 
well  by  sight,  and  I  received  the  shock  of  my 
life  last  evening  when  I  heard  of  her  terrible 
end.  It  is  an  extraordinary  thing,  seeing  that 
we  were  such  close  neighbors,  but  I  believe 
you  got  the  news  long  before  I  did,  because 
I  left  home  early  and  heard  nothing  of  what 
had  happened  till  my  man  met  me  at  Waterloo 
in  the  evening." 

"You  have  seen  the — the  detectives  in  the 
meantime  I '  ' 

"Yes." 

"Then  you  will  be  able  to  tell  me  some- 
thing definite.  I  have  promised  to  call  at 
Scotland  Yard  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  'the  only 
scraps  of  intelligence  I  have  gathered  are 
those  in  the  papers.  I  would  have  come  to 


'A  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  91 

London  last  night,  but  was  afraid  to  travel, 
lest  I  should  faint  in  the  train.  Moreover, 
some  one  in  London  promised  to  send  a  de- 
tective to  see  me.  He  came,  but  could  give  no 
information.  Indeed,  he  wanted  to  learn  cer- 
tain things  from  me.  So,  after  a  weary  night, 
I  caught  the  first  train,  and  it  occurred  to  me, 
as  you  lived  so  near,  that  you  might  be  kind 
enough  to — to — " 

The  long  speech  was  too  much  for  her,  and 
her  lips  quivered  pitifully  a  second  time. 

"I  fully  understand,"  said  Theydon  sym- 
pathetically. "Now,  I'm  positive  you  have 
eaten  hardly  anything  today.  Won't  you  let 
me  order  an  egg?" 

"No,  please.  I'll  be  glad  of  the  tea,  but 
I  cannot  make  a  meal — yet.  Is  it  true  that 
my  niece  was  absolutely  alone  in  her  flat 
on  Monday  night?" 

Seeing  that  Miss  Beale  was  consumed  with 
anxiety  to  hear  an  intelligible  version  of  the 
tragedy,  Theydon  at  once  recited  all,  or 
nearly  all,  that  was  known  to  him.  The  only 
points  he  suppressed  were  those  with  re- 
ference to  the  gray  car  and  the  ivory  skull. 
The  lady  listened  attentively  and  with  more 
self-control  than  he  gave  her  credit  for. 

Bates  came  in  with  a  laden  tray,  on  which 
a  boiled  egg  appeared.  Mrs.  Bates  had  used 
her  discretion,  and  decided  that  any  one  who 
had  set  out  from  Oxford  so  early  in  the  day 


92  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

must  be  in  need  of  more  solid  refreshment 
than  tea  and  toast.  Thus  cozened,  as  it  were, 
into  eating,  Miss  Beale  tackled  the  egg,  and 
Theydon  was  glad  to  note  that  she  made  a 
fairly  good  meal,  being  probably  unaware  of 
her  hunger  until  the  means  of  sating  it 
presented  itself. 

But  she  missed  no  word  of  his  story,  and 
when  he  made  an  end,  put  some  shrewd 
questions. 

"I  take  it,"  she  said,  "that  the  strange 
gentleman  who  visited  my  niece  on  Monday 
night  posted  the  very  letter  which  I  received 
by  the  second  delivery  yesterday?" 

"That  is  what  the  police  believe,"  replied 
Theydon. 

"Then  it  would  seem  that  she  resolved  to 
come  to  me  at  Iffley  as  the  result  of  some- 
thing he  told  her?" 

"Why  do  you  think  that?" 

"Because  I  heard  from  her  only  last  Sat- 
urday, and  she  not  only  said  nothing  about 
coming  to  Oxfordshire,  but  asked  me  to 
arrange  to  spend  a  fortnight  in  London 
before  we  both  went  to  Cornwall  for  the 
Summer. ' ' 

"Ah!  That  is  rather  important,  I  should 
imagine,"  said  Theydon  thoughtfully. 

"It  is  odd,  too,  that  you  and  the  detectives 
should  have  noticed  the  smell  of  a  joss  stick 
in  the  flat,"  went  on  Miss  Beale.  "Edith — 


'A  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  93 

my  niece,  you  know — could  not  bear  the 
smell  of  joss  sticks.  They  reminded  her  of 
Shanghai,  where  she  lost  her  husband." 

Theydon  looked  more  startled  than  such 
a  seemingly  simple  statement  warranted.  He 
had  realized  already  that  the  ivory  skull  was 
the  work  of  an  Oriental  artist,  and  the  men- 
tion of  Shanghai  brought  that  sinister  symbol 
very  vividly  to  his  mind's  eye. 

"Mrs.  Lester  had  lived  in  China,  then?" 
he  said. 

"Yes.  She  was  out  there  nearly  six  years. 
Her  husband  died  suddenly  last  October — he 
was  poisoned,  she  firmly  believed — and,  of 
course,  she  came  home  at  once." 

"What  was  Mr.  Lester's  business,  or  pro- 
fession?" 

"He  was  a  barrister.  I  do  not  mean  that 
he  practised  in  the  Consular  courts.  He  was 
making  his  way  in  England,  but  was  offered 
some  sort  of  appointment  in  Shanghai.  The 
post  was  so  lucrative  that  he  relinquished  a 
growing  connection  at  the  bar.  I  have  never 
really  understood  what  he  did.  I  fancy  he 
had  to  report  on  commercial  matters  to  some 
firm  of  bankers  in  London,  but  he  supplied 
very  little  positive  information  before  Edith 
and  he  sailed.  Indeed,  I  took  it  that  his  mis- 
sion was  highly  confidential,  and  about  that 
time  there  was  a  lot  in  the  newspapers  about 
rival  negotiators  for  a  big  Chinese  loan,  so  I 


94  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

formed  the  opinion  that  he  was  sent  out  in 
connection  with  something  of  the  sort.  Neither 
he  nor  Edith  meant  to  remain  long  in  the  Far 
East.  At  first  their  letters  always  spoke  of  an 
early  return.  Then,  when  the  years  dragged 
on,  and  I  asked  for  definite  news  of  their  home- 
coming, Edith  said  that  Arthur  could  not  get 
away  until  the  country's  political  affairs  were 
in  a  more  settled  state.  Finally  came  a  cable- 
gram from  Edith:  'Arthur  dead;  sailing  im- 
mediately,' and  my  niece  was  with  me  within 
a  few  weeks.  The  supposed  cause  of  her  hus- 
band's death  was  some  virulent  type  of  fever, 
but,  as  I  said,  Edith  was  convinced  that  he 
had  been  poisoned." 

"Why?" 

"That  I  never  understood.  She  never  will- 
ingly talked  about  Shanghai,  or  her  life  there. 
Indeed,  she  was  always  most  anxious  that  no 
one  should  know  she  had  ever  lived  in  China. 
Yet  she  had  plenty  of  friends  out  there.  I 
gathered  that  Arthur  had  left  her  well 
provided  for  financially,  and  they  were  a 
most  devoted  couple.  Edith  was  the  only 
relative  I  possessed.  It  is  very  dreadful,  Mr. 
Theydon,  that  she  should  be  taken  from 
me  in  such  a  way." 

Her  hearer  was  almost  thankful  that  she 
yielded  to  the  inevitable  rush  of  emotion. 
It  gave  him  time  to  collect  his  wits,  which 
had  lost  their  poise  when  that  wicked-looking 


'A  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  95 

little  skull  was,  so  to  speak,  thrust  forcibly 
into  his  recollection. 

"In  a  word,"  he  said,  at  last,  "you  are 
Mrs.  Lester's  next-of-kin  and  probably  her 
heiress?" 

"Yes,  I  suppose  so,  though  I  was  not  think- 
ing of  that,"  came  the  tearful  answer. 

"  Yet  the  relationship  entails  certain  re- 
sponsibilities," said  Theydon  firmly.  "  You 
should  be  legally  represented  at  the  inquest. 
Are  your  affairs  in  the  hands  of  any  firm  of 
solicitors  ? ' ' 

"Yes — at  Oxford.  I  contrived  to  call  at 
their  office  yesterday  and  they  recommended 
me  to  consult  these  people,"  and  Miss  Beale 
produced  a  card  from  a  handbag.  Theydon 
read  the  name  and  address  of  a  well-known 
West  End  firm. 

"Good,"  he  said.  "I  recommend  you  to 
go  there  at  once.  By  the  way,  was  any  one 
looking  after  Mrs.  Lester's  interests?  Surely 
she  had  dealings  with  a  bank  or  an  agency?" 

"Y — yes.  I  do  happen  to  know  the  source 
from  which  her  income  came.  She — made  a 
secret  of  it — in  a  measure." 

"Pray  don't  tell  me  anything  of  that  sort. 
Your  legal  adviser  might  not  approve." 

"But  what  does  it  matter  now?  Poor  Edith 
is  dead.  Her  affairs  cannot  help  being 
dragged  into  the  light  of  day.  She  had  some 
railway  shares  and  bonds,  some  of  which 


96  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

were  left  to  her  by  her  father,  and  others 
which  came  under  a  marriage  settlement,  but 
the  greater  part  of  her  revenue  was  derived 
from  a  monthly  payment  made  by  the  bank 
of  which  Mr.  James  Creighton  Forbes  is  the 
head." 

Miss  Beale  naturally  misinterpreted  the 
blank  stare  with  which  Theydon  received  this 
remarkable  statement. 

"  I  don't  see  why  any  one  should  wish  to 
conceal  a  simple  matter  of  business  like  that," 
she  said  nervously.  "May  I  explain  that  I 
have  an  impression,  not  founded  on  anything 
quite  tangible,  that  Mr.  Forbes  was  largely 
interested  in  the  syndicate  which  sent  Arthur 
Lester  to  China,  so  it  is  very  likely  that  the 
payment  of  an  annuity,  or  pension,  to  Ar- 
thur's widow  would  be  left  in  his  care.  I 
do  not  know.  I  am  only  guessing.  Bui  that 
matter,  and  others,  can  hardly  fail  to  be 
cleared  up  by  the  police  inquiry." 

Theydon  recovered  his  self-control  as  rap- 
idly as  he  had  lost  it.  He  glanced  at  the 
clock — 10 : 15.  Within  half  an  hour,  or  less, 
Miss  Beale  would  be  on  her  way  to  Scotland 
Yard.  He  must  act  promptly  and  decisively, 
or  he  would  find  himself  in  a  distinctly  un- 
favorable position  in  his  relations  with  the 
Criminal  Investigation  Department. 

"I  happen  to  be  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Forbes,"  he  said,  striving  desperately  to  ap- 


A  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  97 

pear  cool  and  methodical  when  his  brain  was 
seething.  "  Would  you  mind  if  I  just  rang 
him  up  on  the  telephone?  A  few  words  now 
might  enlighten  us  materially." 

"0,  you  are  most  helpful,"  said  the  lady, 
blushing  again  with  timid  gratitude.  "I  am 
so  glad  I  summoned  up  courage  to  call  on  you. 
I  was  terrified  at  the  idea  of  going  to  the 
Police  Headquarters,  but  I  shall  not  mind  it 
at  all  now." 

Soon  Theydon  was  asking  for  "00400, 
Bank."  He  had  left  the  door  of  his  sitting 
room  open  purposely.  No  matter  what  the 
'outcome,  he  no  longer  dared  keep  the  com- 
pact of  silence  into  which  he  had  entered  with 
Forbes.  But  the  millionaire  was  not  at  his 
office.  In  response  to  a  very  determined  re- 
quest for  a  word  with  some  one  in  authority, 
"on  a  matter  of  real  urgency,"  the  clerk  who 
had  answered  the  call  brought  "Mr.  Forbes 's 
secretary,"  a  Mr.  Macdonald,  to  the  tele- 
phone. 

"It  is  important,  vitally  important,  that  I 
should  speak  with  Mr.  Forbes  within  the  next 
few  minutes,"  said  Theydon,  after  giving  his 
name  and  address.  "Do  you  expect  him  to 
arrive  soon?  Or  shall  I  try  and  reach  him  at 
Fortescue  Square?" 

"Mr.  Forbes  will  not  be  here  till  midday," 
came  a  voice  with  a  pronounced  Scottish  in- 
tonation. "I'm  doubtful,  too,  if  ye '11  catch 


98  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

him  at  home.     Can  I  give  him  a  message?" 

"Do  you  know  where  he  is!" 

"Well,  I  cannot  say." 

"But  do  you  know?" 

"I'll  be  glad  to  give  him  a  message." 

"It  will  be  too  late,  then.  Please  un- 
derstand, Mr.  Macdonald,  that  I  am  making 
this  call  at  Mr.  Forbes 's  express  wish.  It  is, 
as  I  have  said,  vitally  important  that  I  should 
get  in  touch  with  him  without  delay." 

Scottish  caution  was  not  to  be  overcome  by 
an  appeal  of  that  sort. 

"I  cannot  go  beyond  what  I  have  said," 
was  the  reply.  "If  you  like  to  ask  at  his 
house — " 

"0,  ring  off!"  cried  Theydon,  who  pictured 
the  secretary  as  a  lanky  hollow-cheeked  Scot, 
a  model  of  discretion  and  trustworthiness,  no 
doubt,  but  utterly  unequal  to  a  crisis  demand- 
ing some  measure  of  self-confident  initiative. 
In  reality,  Mr.  Macdonald  was  short  and 
stout,  and  quite  a  jovial  little  man. 

After  an  exasperating  delay,  he  got  Into 
communication  with  the  Forbes  mansion  in 
Fortescue  Square. 

"I'm  Mr.  Frank  Theydon,"  he  said,  striv- 
ing to  speak  unconcernedly.  "Is  Mr.  Forbes 
in?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Is  that  you,  Tomlinsonf" 

"Yes,  sir." 


A  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  99 

"Can  you   tell  me   where   I   can  find  Mr. 
Forbes  at  once!" 

"Isn't  he  at  his  office,  sir?" 

"No.    He  will  not  be  there  till  12  o'clock." 

A  pause  of  indecision  on  Tomlinson's  part. 
Then,  a  possible  solution  of  the  difficulty. 

"Would  you  care  to  have  a  word  with  Miss 
Evelyn,  sir!" 

"0,  yes,  yes." 

Theydon  blurted  out  this  emphatic  accept- 
ance of  the  butler's  suggestion  without  a 
thought  as  to  its  possible  consequences.  He 
was  racking  his  brain  in  a  frenzy  of  un- 
certainty as  to  how  he  should  frame  his  words 
when  he  heard  quite  clearly  a  woman's  foot- 
steps on  the  parquet  flooring,  and  caught 
Evelyn  Forbes 's  voice  saying  to  Tomlinson: 
"How  fortunate!  Mr.  Theydon  is  the  very 
person  I  wished  to  speak  to,  but  I  simply 
dared  not  ring  him  up." 

The  slight  incident  only  provided  Theydon 
with  a  new  source  of  wonderment.  Why 
should  Evelyn  Forbes  want  speech  with  him 
at  that  early  hour!  Perhaps  she  would 
explain.  He  could  only  hope  so,  and  trust 
to  luck  in  the  choice  of  his  own  phrases. 

"That  you,  Mr.  Theydon!"  came  the  girl's 
voice,  sweet  in  its  cadence  yet  ominously  eager. 
"How  nice  of  you  to  anticipate  my  unspoken 
thought!  I  have  been  horribly  anxious  ever 
since  I  read  of  that  awful  affair  at  Innes- 


100  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

more  Mansions.    That  poor  lady's  flat  is  next 
door  to  yours,  is  it  not?" 

"Yes,  but—" 

"0,  you  cannot  choke  off  a  woman's  curios- 
ity quite  so  easily.  You  see,  I  happen  to 
know  that  Mrs.  Lester's  sad  death  affects  my 
father  in  some  way,  and  I  realize  now  that 
you  two  were  just  on  pins  and  needles  to  get 
rid  of  me  last  night  so  that  you  might  talk 
freely." 

"Miss  Forbes,  I  assure  you — " 

"Wait  till  I've  finished,  and  you  will  not 
be  under  the  necessity  of  telling  me  any 
polite  fibs.  You  men  are  all  alike.  You  think 
the  giddy  feminine  brain  is  not  fitted  to  cope 
with  mysteries,  and  that  is  where  you  are 
utterly  mistaken.  A  woman's  intuition  often 
peers  deeper  than  a  man's  logic.  I— 

"Do  forgive  me,"  broke  in  Theydon 
despairingly,  "but  I  am  really  most  anxious 
to  know  how  and  where  I  can  get  a  word 
with  your  father.  I  would  not  be  so  rude  as 
to  interrupt  you  if  I  hadn't  the  best  of  ex- 
cuses. Tell  me  where  to  find  him  now,  and 
I  promise  to  give  you  a  call  immediately 
afterward. ' ' 

"He's  at  the  Home  Office." 

"At  the  Home  Office!" 

Some  hint  of  utter  bewilderment  in  They- 
don's  tone  must  have  reached  the  girl's  alert 
ear. 


rA  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  101 

"Ah!  Touche!"  she  cried.  "Now  will  you 
be  good  and  tell  me  why  Dad  should  receive 
a  little  ivory  skull  by  this  morning's  post?" 

Theydon  knew  that  he  paled.  His  very 
scalp  tingled  with  an  apprehension  of  some 
shadowy  yet  none  the  less  affrighting  evil. 
But  he  schooled  himself  to  say,  with  a  sem- 
blance of  calm  interest: 

"What  exactly  do  you  mean,  Miss  Forbes?" 

She  laughed  lightly.  Theydon  was  so 
flurried  that  he  did  not  realize  the  possibility 
of  Evelyn  Forbes  being  as  quick  to  mask 
her  real  feelings  as  he  himself  was. 

"Dad  and  I  make  a  point  of  breakfasting 
together  at  nine  o'clock  every  morning,"  she 
said.  "We  were  talking  about  you,  and  he 
told  me  of  the  dreadful  thing  that  happened 
to  Mrs.  Lester.  I  was  reading  the  account  of 
the  tragedy  in  a  newspaper,  when  I  happened 
to  glance  at  him.  He  was  going  through  his 
letters,  and  I  was  just  a  trifle  curious  to 
know  what  was  in  a  flat  box  which  came  by 
registered  post.  He  opened  it  carelessly  and 
something  fell  out  and  rolled  across  the  table. 
I  picked  it  up  and  saw  that  it  was  a  small 
piece  of  ivory,  carved  with  extraordinary  skill 
to  represent  a  skull.  Indeed,  it  was  so  clever 
as  to  be  decidedly  repulsive.  I  was  going  to 
say  something  when  I  saw  that  the  letter  which 
was  in  the  same  box  had  alarmed  him  so  greatly 
that,  for  a  second  or  two,  I  thought  he  would 


102  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

faint.  But  he  can  be  very  strong  and  stern  at 
times,  and  he  recovered  himself  instantly,  was 
quite  vexed  with  me  because  I  had  examined 
the  ivory  skull,  and  forbade  my  going  out 
until  he  had  returned  from  the  Home  Office. 
Tomlinson  and  the  other  men  have  orders 
not  to  admit  any  one  to  the  house,  no  matter 
on  what  pretext,  and  I'm  sure  the  letter  and 
its  nasty  little  token  are  bound  up  in  some 
way  with  Mrs.  Lester's  death.  Won't  you 
let  me  into  the  secret?  I  shan't  scream  or 
do  anything  foolish,  but  I  do  think  I  am 
entitled  to  know  what  you  know  if  it  affects 
my  father." 

A  sudden  change  in  the  girl's  voice  warned 
Theydon  of  a  restraint  of  which  he  had  been 
unconscious  hitherto.  He  tried  to  temporize, 
to  whittle  away  her  fears.  That  was  a  duty 
he  owed  to  Forbes,  who  was  clearly  resolved 
not  to  take  his  daughter  into  his  confidence — 
for  the  present,  at  any  rate. 

"I  really  fail  to  see  why  you  should  assume 
some  connection  between  the  crime  which  was 
committed  here  on  Monday  night  and  the 
arrival  of  a  somewhat  singular  package  at 
your  house  this  morning,"  he  said  reassur- 
ingly. 

"Like  every  other  woman,  I  jump  at  con- 
clusions," she  answered.  "Why  should  this 
crime,  in  particular,  have  worried  my  father? 
Unfortunately,  the  newspapers  are  full  of 


A  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  103 

such  horrid  things,  yet  he  hardly  ever  pays 
them  any  attention.  No,  Mr.  Theydon,  I 
am  not  mistaken.  He,  either  knew  Mrs.  Les- 
ter, and  was  shocked  at  her  death,  or  saw  in 
it  some  personal  menace.  Then  comes  the 
letter,  with  its  obvious  threat,  and  I  am 
ordered  to  remain  at  home,  under  a  strong 
guard,  while  he  hurries  off  to  Whitehall.  You 
have  met  my  father,  Mr.  Theydon.  Do  you 
regard  him  as  the  sort  of  man  who  would  rush 
off  in  a  panic  to  consult  the  Home  Secretary 
without  very  grave  and  weighty  reasons?" 

"But  you  can  hardly  be  certain  that  a 
wretched  crime  in  this  comparatively  in- 
significant quarter  of  London  supplies  the 
actual  motive  of  Mr.  Forbes 's  action,"  urged 
Theydon. 

The  girl  stamped  an  impatient  foot.  He 
heard  it  distinctly. 

"  Of  course  I  am  certain,"  she  cried.  "  Why 
won't  you  be  candid?  You  know  I  am  right — 
I  can  tell  it  from  your  voice,  and  your 
guarded  way  of  talking — " 

An  inspiration  came  to  Theydon 's  relief  in 
that  instant. 

"Pardon  the  interruption,"  he  said,  "but' 
I  must  point  out  that  both  of  us  are  acting 
unwisely  in  discussing  such  matters  over  the 
telephone.  Really,  neither  must  say  another 
word,  except  this — when  I  have  found  your 
father  I'll  ask  his  permission  to  come  and  see 


104  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

you.  Perhaps  we  three  can  arrange  to  meet 
somewhere  for  luncheon.  That  is  absolutely 
the  farthest  limit  to  which  I  dare  go  at  this 
moment." 

"0,  very  well!" 

The  receiver  was  hung  up  in  a  temper,  and 
the  prompt  ring-off  jarred  disagreeably  in 
Theydon's  ear.  If  he  was  puzzled  before,  he 
was  thoroughly  at  sea  now.  But  he  took  a 
bold  course,  and  cared  not  a  jot  whether  or 
not  it  was  a  prudent  one. 

The  mere  sound  of  Evelyn  Forbes 's  voice 
had  steeled  his  heart  and  conscience  against 
the  dictates  of  common  sense.  Let  the  de- 
tectives think  what  they  might,  the  girl's 
father  must  be  allowed  to  carry  through  his 
plans  without  let  or  hindrance. 

"Miss  Beale,"  said  Theydon,  gazing  fixedly 
into  the  sorrow-laden  eyes  of  the  quiet  little 
lady  whom  he  found  seated  where  he  had  left 
her,  "I'm  going  to  tell  you  something  very 
important,  very  serious,  something  so  far- 
reaching  and  momentous  that  neither  you  nor 
I  can  measure  its  effect.  You  heard  the 
conversation  on  the  telephone?" 

"I  heard  what  you  were  saying,  but  could 
not  understand  much  of  it,"  said  his  visitor 
in  a  scared  way. 

"I  have  been  trying  to  communicate  with 
Mr.  Forbes,  but  his  daughter  tells  me  that  the 
murder  of  your  niece  seems  to  have  affected 


A  LEAP  IN  THE  DARK  105 

him  in  a  manner  which  is  incomprehensible  to 
her,  and  even  more  so  to  me,  though  I  am 
acquainted  with  facts  which  her  father  and 
I  have  purposely  kept  from  her  knowledge. 
Mr.  Forbes  has  gone  hurriedly  to  the  Home 
Office.  I  suppose  you  know  what  that  means! 
He  is  about  to  give  the  Home  Secretary 
certain  information,  and  it  is  not  for  you  or 
me  to  interfere  with  his  discretion.  Now,  if 
you  tell  the  Scotland  Yard  people  what  you 
have  told  me,  namely,  that  Mr.  Forbes  was 
the  intermediary  through  whom  Mrs.  Les- 
ter received  the  greater  part  of  her  income, 
he  will  be  brought  prominently  into  the  in- 
quiry. You  see  that,  don't  you?" 

"Yes.  I  suppose  that  something  of  the 
sort  must  happen." 

"Well,  I  want  you  to  suppress  that  vital 
fact  until  we  know  more  about  this  affair. 
It  will  not  be  for  long.  Each  of  us  must  tell 
our  story  without  reservation  at  some  future 
date — whether  this  afternoon,  or  tomorrow, 
or  a  week  hence,  I  cannot  say  now.  But  I 
do  ask  you  to  keep  your  knowledge  to  your- 
self until  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of 
consulting  Mr.  Forbes.  I  undertake  to  tell 
you  the  exact  position  of  matters  without 
delay,  and  I  accept  all  responsibility  for  my 
present  advice." 

"I  know  little  of  the  world,  Mr.  Theydon," 
said  Miss  Beale,  rising,  and  beginning  to 


106  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

draw  on  her  gloves,  "but  I  shall  be  very 
greatly  surprised  if  you  are  advising  me  to 
act  otherwise  than  honorably.  I  shall  cer- 
tainly not  utter  a  word  about  Mr.  Forbes  at 
Scotland  Yard.  "When  all  is  said  and  done, 
my  statement  to  you  was  largely  guesswork. 
You  must  remember  that  I  have  never  seen 
Mr.  Forbes,  nor  hardly  ever  heard  his  name 
except  in  connection  with  public  matters  in  the 
Press.  0,  yes.  I  make  that  promise  readily. 
I  trust  you  implicitly!" 


CHAPTER  VI 

CLOSE    QUAETEES 

THEYDON  escorted  Miss  Beale  downstairs. 
As  they  passed  the  closed  door  of  No.  17, 
the  lady  shivered. 

"To  think  that  within  the  next  few  days 
I  would  have  been  staying  there  with  Edith, 
and  planning  evenings  at  the  theater  before 
going  to  Newquay!"  she  murmured;  there 
was  a  pitiful  catch  in  her  voice  that  told 
better  than  words  how  the  remainder  of  her 
existence  would  be  darkened  by  the  tragedy. 

At  best  she  was  a  shrinking,  timid  little 
woman,  for  whom  life  probably  held  but 
narrow  interests.  Such  as  they  were,  their 
placid  content  was  forever  shattered.  The 
death  of  her  niece  had  closed  the  one  chief 
avenue  leading  to  the  outer  world.  She  would 
retire  to  the  quiet  back-water  of  Iffley,  to  be- 
come more  faded,  more  insignificant,  more 
lonely  each  year. 

Theydon  commiserated  with  her  deeply  and 
did  not  hesitate  to  utter  his  thoughts  while 
putting  her  into  a  cab. 

"Have  you  no  friends  in  London!"  he  in- 
quired. "I  don't  like  the  notion  of  sending 

107 


108  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

you  off  alone  into  this  wilderness.  London 
is  the  worst  place  in  the  world  for  any  one 
in  distress.  The  heedless  multitude  seems  to 
be  callous  and  unsympathetic.  It  isn't,  in 
reality.  It  simply  doesn't  know,  and  doesn't 
bother. ' ' 

"I  used  to  claim  some  acquaintances  here, 
but  I  have  lost  track  of  them  for  years,"  she 
said.  "In  any  event,  I  shall  have  more  than 
enough  to  occupy  my  mind  today.  The  in- 
quest opens  at  three  o'clock,  and  I  must  face 
the  ordeal  of  identifying  Edith's  body.  The 
detective  told  me  that  this  should  be  done  by 
a  relation,  while  the  only  other  person  who 
could  act — Ann  Rogers — has  been  nearly  out 
of  her  mind  since  yesterday  morning." 

"Where  are  you  staying?" 

She  mentioned  a  small  hotel  in  the  West 
End. 

"I  used  to  go  there  with  my  people  when 
I  was  a  girl,"  she  added,  sadly. 

"Then  I'll  get  my  sister  to  call.  You'll 
like  her.  She's  a.  jolly  good  sort,  and  a  chat 
with  another  woman  will  be  far  more  bene- 
ficial than  the  society  of  detectives  and  law- 
yers and  such-like  strange  fowl.  Keep  your 
spirits  up,  Miss  Beale.  Nothing  that  you  can 
say  or  do  now  will  restore  the  life  so  cruelly 
taken,  but  you  and  I,  each  in  our  own  way,  can 
strive  to  bring  the  murderer  to  justice.  I  am 
convinced  that  a  distinct  step  in  that  direction 


CLOSE  QUARTERS  109 

will  be  taken  this  very  day.  You  can  count 
on  seeing  or  hearing  from  me  as  soon  as 
possible  after  I  have  discussed  matters  with 
Mr.  Forbes.  Meanwhile,  don't  forget  to  have 
a  lawyer  representing  you  at  the  inquest." 

They  parted  as  though  they  were  friends 
of  long  standing.  Theydon  was  genuinely 
sorry  for  this  gray-haired  woman's  plight,  and 
she  evidently  regarded  him  as  a  kind-hearted 
and  eminently  trustworthy  young  man.  He 
stood  and  watched  the  cab  as  it  bore  her  off 
swiftly  into  the  maelstrom  of  London.  He 
could  not  help  thinking  that  seldom  had  he 
met  one  less  fitted  for  the  notoriety  thrust 
upon  all  connected  with  a  much-talked-of 
crime. 

When  the  press  interviewers,  the  photo- 
graphers, the  hundred  and  one  officials  with 
whom  she  must  be  brought  in  contact,  were 
done  with  her,  poor  Miss  Beale  would  retire 
to  her  Oxfordshire  nook  in  a  state  of  mental 
bewilderment  that  would  baffle  description. 
In  one  of  his  books  Theydon  had  endeavored 
to  depict  just  such  a  middle-aged  spinster  con- 
fronted with  a  situation  not  wholly  unlike 
that  which  now  faced  Miss  Beale. 

He  smiled  grimly  when  he  realized  how 
far  fiction  had  wandered  from  fact.  The 
woman  of  his  imagination  had  acted  with  a 
strength  of  character,  a  decisiveness,  that  out- 
witted and  confounded  certain  scheming  per- 


110  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

sonages  in  the  story.  How  different  was  the 
reality !  Miss  Beale,  rushing  across  London  in 
a  taxi,  reminded  him  of  nothing  more  master- 
ful than  a  cage-bird  turned  loose  in  a  tempest. 
He  was  about  to  reenter  the  mansions, 
meaning  to  telephone  to  both  the  Fortescue 
Square  house  and  the  Old  Broad  Street  offices, 
and  ask  for  instant  news  of  Mr.  Forbes  in 
either  locality.  He  was  so  preoccupied  that 
he  failed  to  notice  an  approaching  taxicab, 
though  the  driver  was  signaling,  and  even 
tooted  a  motor  horn  loudly  in  the  endeavor 
to  attract  his  attention. 

He  did,  however,  catch  his  own  name,  and 
halted. 

"Beg  pardon,  sir,  but  you  are  Mr.  Theydon, 
aren't  you?"  said  the  man. 

Then  Theydon  recognized  Evans,  the  taxi- 
driver,  who  had  brought  him  from  Fortescue 
Square. 

"Hullo!"  he  cried.  "Any  news  of  the  gray 
car?" 

"Yes,  sir,  I  think  so,"  was  the  somewhat 
surprising  answer.  "When  I  dropped  you  last 
night  I  got  a  fare  to  Euston.  Then  I  took  a 
gentleman  to  the  Langham,  an',  as  I  felt  like 
a  snack,  I  pulled  into  the  nearest  cab  rank. 
I  was  having  some  corfee  an'  a  sandwich 
when  I  'appened  to  speak  about  the  gray  car 
to  one  of  ahr  chaps.  'That's  odd,'  he  said. 
1  Quarter  of  an  hour  ago  I  had  a  theater  job 


CLOSE  QUARTERS  111 

to  Langham  Plice,  an'  a  gray  landaulette 
stopped  in  front  of  the  Chinese  Embassy.  It 
kem  along  from  the  east  side,  too.*  He  didn't 
notice  the  number,  sir,  so  there  may  be  noth- 
ink  in  it,  after  all,  but  I  thought  you  might 
like  to  hear  wot  my  pal  said." 

"Was  the  car  empty?  Did  it  call  for  some 
one  at  the  Embassy?" 

"That's  the  queer  part  of  it,  sir.  I  axed 
pertic'ler.  This  gray  car  brought  a  gentle- 
man, a  small,  youngish  man,  'oo  skipped  up 
the  Embassy  steps  like  a  lamplighter,  and 
went  in  afore  you  could  s'y  'knife.'  Some- 
body might  ha'  bin  watchin'  for  him  through 
the  keyhole,  the  door  was  opened  that  quick. 
Then  the  car  went  off.  My  friend  wouldn't  ha ' 
given  a  second  thought  to  it  if  the  gentleman 
hadn't  vanished  like  a  jack-in-the-box.  That's 
w'y  he  remembered  the  color  of  the  car." 

Theydon  tried  to  look  as  though  Evans's 
statement  merely  puzzled  him,  whereas  his 
mind  was  already  busy  with  the  extraordinary 
coincidences  which  the  haphazard  events  of  a 
few  hours  had  produced.  Was  the  Far  East 
bound  up  in  some  mysterious  way  with  Mrs. 
Lester's  death?  Did  the  crime  possess  a 
political  significance?  If  so,  an  explanation 
by  Forbes  was  more  than  ever  demanded. 

"Your  informant  was  not  mistaken  about 
the  Chinese  Embassy,  I  suppose?"  he  said. 

"No,    sir.     He's    always    in   that   district. 


112  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

His  garage  is  at  the  back  of  Great  Portland 
Street.  He  knows  most  of  them  there  Chinks 
by  sight." 

"Then  that  gray  car  can  hardly  have  been 
our  gray  car,"  commented  Theydon,  deeming 
it  wise  to  prevent  the  sharp-witted  taxi-driver 
from  jumping  at  conclusions. 

"I'm  afraid  not,  sir.  Still,  I  just  took  the 
liberty — " 

"I'm  very  much  obliged  to  you,  of  course. 
I  said  half-a-crown,  didn't  I?  Here  you  are. 
Keep  an  eye  open  for  XY  1314  and  let  me 
know  if  you  hear  or  see  anything  of  it." 

"Thank  you,  sir."  Then  Evans  lifted  his 
eyes  to  the  block  of  buildings.  "A  nasty 
business  this  murder  which  was  done  'ere  the 
other  night,  sir,"  he  went  on.  "One  'ud 
hardly  b'lieve  it  possible  for  such  things  to 
tike  plice  in  London  nowadays." 

Much  as  he  was  disinclined  for  gossip  of 
the  sort  at  the  moment,  Theydon  saw  that 
he  must  endeavor  to  dissociate  the  gray  car 
and  the  crime  from  their  dangerous  juxta- 
position in  the  man's  mind,  so  he  spoke  about 
Mrs.  Lester's  attractive  appearance,  harped 
on  the  apparent  aimlessness  of  the  deed, 
hinted  darkly  at  clews  in  the  possession  of  the 
police,  and  finally  got  rid  of  the  well-meaning 
chauffeur.  Back  he  went  to  his  telephone, 
and  having  ascertained  that  Mr.  Forbes  was 
fully  expected  to  put  in  an  appearance  at  the 


CLOSE  QUARTERS  113 

city  office  before  noon,  settled  down  to  read 
the  newspapers. 

They  contained  sensational  but  fairly  ac- 
curate accounts  of  the  tragedy.  One  en- 
terprising journal  had  published  an  interview 
with  Bates,  whom  the  reporter  described  as 
"a  typical  British  man-servant,"  which  was 
amusing,  since  Bates  had  "  retired  noncom- 
missioned officer"  written  all  over  his  square 
frame  and  soldierly  features. 

The  same  journalist  spoke  of  They  don  him- 
self, and  had  even  ferreted  out  the  fact  that 
Mrs.  Lester  was  the  widow  of  an  English 
barrister  who  had  died  at  Shanghai.  On  re- 
flection, Theydon  saw  that  there  was  nothing 
unusual  in  this  statement.  The  connection 
between  the  metropolitan  press  and  the  bar  is 
old  and  intimate,  and  scores  of  junior  bar- 
risters must  remember  Arthur  Lester's  be- 
ginnings. 

Resolved  to  possess  his  soul  in  patience  till 
twelve  o'clock,  the  hour  being  yet  barely  11: 30 
a.  m.,  Theydon  tackled  a  page  of  reviews, 
since  there  is  always  consolation  for  a  writer 
in  learning  at  second  hand  what  sheer  drivel 
others  can  produce. 

He  was  growling  at  the  discovery  that  some 
hapless  essayist  had  appropriated  a  title 
which  he  himself  had  marked  down  for  his 
next  book,  when  the  door-bell  rang.  He  did 
not  give  much  heed,  because  so  many  trades- 


114  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

men  called  during  the  course  of  each  morn- 
ing, so  he  was  surprised  and  startled  when 
Bates  announced: 

''Mr.  Forbes  to  see  you,  sir." 

Had  a  powerful  spring  concealed  in  the 
seat  of  his  chair  been  released  suddenly,  They- 
don  could  not  have  bounced  to  his  feet  with 
greater  speed.  Forbes  came  in.  He  was  pale, 
but  self-contained  and  clear-eyed. 

"Forgive  an  unceremonious  visit,"  he  said. 
"I'm  glad  to  find  you  at  home.  I  meant  to 
arrive  here  sooner,  but  I  was  detained  on 
business  of  some  importance." 

By  this  time  Bates  had  closed  the  door; 
Theydon  explained  his  presence  in  the  flat 
by  saying  that  within  a  few  minutes  he 
would  have  been  telephoning  again  to  Old 
Broad  Street. 

"  Ah!  Did  you  speak  to  Macdonald?  "  said 
Forbes,  dropping  into  a  chair  with  a  curious 
lassitude  of  manner  which  did  not  escape 
Theydon. 

"Yes.  I  have  been  most  anxious  to  have 
a  word  with  you — " 

Forbes  broke  in  with  a  short  laugh. 

"You  would  get  nothing  out  of  Macdonald," 
he  said.  "He  knows  that  my  visits  to 
the  Chinese  Embassy  are  few  and  far  between 
and  generally  have  to  do  with — but  what  is 
it  now?  Why  should  you  be  so  perturbed 
when  I  mention  the  Chinese  Embassy?" 


CLOSE  QUARTERS  115 

Theydon  was  literally  astounded,  and  did 
not  strive  to  hide  his  agitation.  But  he  was 
by  no  means  tongue-tied.  Now,  most  emphati- 
cally, was  he  determined  to  have  done  with 
pretense.  Whether  by  accident  or  design, 
Forbes  had  placed  himself  with  his  back  to 
the  window. 

The  younger  man  deliberately  crossed  the 
room,  pulled  up  the  blind,  thus  admitting  the 
flood  of  light  which  comes  only  from  the  upper 
third  of  a  window,  and  sat  down  in  such  a 
position  that  Forbes  was  compelled  to  turn 
in  order  to  face  him. 

"Before  you  utter  another  word,  Mr. 
Forbes,"  he  said  gravely,  "let  me  tell  you 
that  in  my  efforts  to  trace  your  whereabouts 
I  also  called  up  Fortescue  Square.  Miss 
Forbes  came  to  the  telephone.  She  said  you 
had  gone  to  the  Home  Office.  By  some  fem- 
inine necromancy,  too,  she  divined  the  link 
which  binds  you  with  the  death  of  Mrs.  Lester. 
She  was  distressed  on  your  account,  and  I 
was  hard  put  to  it  to  extricate  myself  from 
the  risk  of  saying  something  which  I  might 
regret.  I — " 

"What  do  you  imply  by  that  remark?"  in- 
terrupted Forbes,  piercing  the  other  with  a 
look  that  was  strangely  reminiscent  of  his 
daughter's  candid  scrutiny. 

"I  imply  the  serious  fact  that  I  know  who 
visited  Mrs.  Lester  before  she  met  her  death. 


116  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

I  not  only  heard  her  visitor's  arrival  and 
departure,  but  saw  him  at  the  corner  of 
these  mansions  while  on  my  way  home  from 
Daly's  Theater,  and  again  when  he  posted  a 
letter  in  the  pillar  box  on  the  same  corner. 
If  .  such  unwonted  interest  on  my  part  in 
the  movements  of  one  who  was  then  a  com- 
plete stranger  surprises  you,  let  me  remind 
you  that  only  a  few  minutes  earlier  I  had 
stood  by  his  side  at  the  door  of  the  theater 
and  heard  him  telling  his  daughter  that  he 
intended  to  walk  to  the  Constitutional  Club." 

Forbes  smiled,  but  uttered  no  word.  His 
expression  was  inscrutable.  His  pallor  re- 
minded Theydon  of  the  tint  of  ivory,  of  that 
waxen-white  Dutch  grisaille  beloved  of  fif- 
teenth century  illuminators  of  manuscripts. 
His  silence  was  disturbing,  almost  irritating, 
his  manner  singularly  calm. 

These  negative  indications  conveyed  ab- 
solutely nothing  to  Theydon,  who  for  the 
second  time  in  their  brief  acquaintance  found 
himself  in  the  ridiculous  position  of  one  ex- 
plaining a  fault  rather  than,  as  he  imagined, 
arraigning  a  man  under  suspicion. 

"So  we  had  better  dispense  with  am- 
biguities, Mr.  Forbes,"  he  went  on,  speaking 
with  a  precision  that  sounded  oddly  in  his 
own  ears.  "It  was  you  who  called  on  Mrs. 
Lester  on  Monday  night,  you  who  posted  the 
Jetter  she  wrote  to  Miss  Beale  at  Iffley,  Ox- 


CLOSE  QUARTERS  117 

fordshire,  you  for  whom  the  police  are  now 
searching.  I  have  contrived  thus  far  to  keep 
your  secret,  but  the  situation  is  passing  'out 
of  my  control.  I  would  help  you  if  I 
could—  " 

"Why?" 

The  monosyllable,  sharp  and  insistent,  was 
disconcerting  as  the  unexpected  crack  of  a 
whip,  but  Theydon  answered  valiantly: 

"Because  of  the  monstrous  absurdities 
with  which  Fate  has  plagued  me  during  the 
past  two  days,  I  appeal  now  for  outspoken- 
ness, so  I  set  an  example.  Had  it  not  been 
for  your  daughter's  remarkably  attractive  ap- 
pearance I  should  not,  in  all  likelihood,  have 
given  a  second  glance  at  my  neighbors  on  the 
steps  of  the  theater.  But  I  cannot  forget 
that  I  did  see  both  her  and  you — indeed,  Miss 
Forbes  herself  recalled  the  incident — and  the 
close  questioning  of  the  Scotland  Yard  men 
who  were  here  last  night  showed  me  the 
folly  of  imagining  that  I  could  deny  all 
knowledge  of  you.  I  recognize  now  that  some 
impish  contriving  of  circumstances  forced  this 
knowledge  upon  me.  The  sudden  downpour  of 
rain,  and  the  fact  that  I  was  delayed  by  a 
slight  accident  to  my  cab,  conspired  with  the 
apparently  simple  chance  which  led  me  to 
overhear  the  conversation  between  Miss  Forbes 
and  yourself.  I  tried  hard  to  baffle  the 
detectives — " 


118  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"Again  I  ask  'Why?'  " 

Theydon  was  rapidly  being  wound  up  to  a 
pitch  of  excited  resentment. 

"Why!"  he  cried.  "Was  I  not  your  guest? 
How  could  I  come  from  a  house  where  I  had 
been  admitted  to  a  delightful  intimacy  and 
tell  the  representatives  of  the  law  that 
my  host  was  the  man  they  were  looking 
for?  " 

During  some  seconds  Forbes  bent  his  eyes 
on  the  floor,  seemingly  in  deep  thought. 

"Theydon,"  he  said  at  last,  looking  up 
in  his  direct  way,  "I  am  your  senior  by  a 
good  many  years — am  old  enough,  as  the  say- 
ing goes,  to  be  your  father.  I  may  venture, 
therefore,  to  give  you  a  piece  of  sound  advice. 
Pack  a  kit-bag,  catch  the  afternoon  boat  train 
for  Boulogne,  and  go  for  a  walking  tour  in 
Normandy  and  Brittany.  When  I  was  your 
age  and  a  junior  in  a  bank  I  had  to  take  my 
holidays  in  May;  each  year  I  tramped  that 
corner  of  France.  I  recommend  it  as  a  play- 
ground. It  will  appeal  to  your  literary  in- 
stincts, and  it  has  the  immeasurable  advantage 
just  now  of  being  practically  as  remote  from 
London  as  the  Sahara." 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Theydon  was 
a  romancer,  an  idealist.  The  "lounge  suit" 
of  the  modern  tailor  hampers  the  play  of  such 
qualities  no  more  than  the  beaten  armor  of 
the  age  of  chivalry. 


CLOSE  QUARTERS  119 

"If  my  departure  for  France  will  relieve 
Miss  Forbes  of  anxiety  on  your  behalf,  I'll 
go,"  he  vowed. 

Forbes  regarded  him  with  a  new  interest. 

"I  believe  you  mean  that,"  he  said. 

"I  do." 

"But  I  cannot  send  you  out  of  the  country 
on  a  false  pretense.  It  was  your  safety  and 
well-being,  not  my  daughter's,  that  I  was 
thinking  of." 

"What  have  I  to  fear?" 

"I  do  not  know.  I  am  like  a  man  wander- 
ing by  night  in  a  jungle  alive  with  fearsome 
beasts  and  reptiles," 

"Yet  you  had  some  reason  for  suggesting 
my  prompt  departure." 

"Yes.  It  is  an  absurd  thing  to  say,  but  I 
believe  I  am  putting  you  in  danger  of  your 
life  by  coming  here  this  morning. ' ' 

"Can't  you  speak  plainly,  Mr.  Forbes? 
What  good  purpose  do  you  serve  by  holding 
forth  these  vague  terrors?  If,  as  Miss 
Forbes  told  me,  you  have  visited  the  Home 
Office,  I  take  it  you  made  yourself  clear  to 
the  authorities — assuming,  that  is,  you  went 
there  in  connection  with  the  amazing  condi- 
tions which  seem  to  be  bound  up  with  this 
crime. ' ' 

"There  is  a  certain  class  of  knowledge 
which  is  in  itself  dangerous  to  those  who 
possess  it,  no  matter  whether  or  not  it  affects 


120  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

them  in  any  particular.    I  recommend  you,  in 
good  faith,  to  leave  London  today." 

"If  my  own  safety  is  the  only  consideration 
I  refuse  as  readily  as  I  agreed  before." 

Theydon's  tone  grew  somewhat  impatient. 
He  really  fancied  that  Forbes  was  trifling 
with  him.  Indeed,  a  queer  doubt  of  the  man's 
complete  sanity  now  peeped  up  in  him.  Forbes 
was  regarded  as  a  crank  by  a  large  section 
of  the  public  on  account  of  his  peace  propa- 
ganda; if  that  opinion  were  justified  why 
should  he  not  be  eccentric  in  other  respects? 

It  was  fantastic,  almost  stupid,  to  look 
upon  him  as  responsible  for  Mrs.  Lester's 
murder,  but  there  was  always  a  possibility 
that  he  might  be  utilizing  the  chance  which 
led  him  to  her  apartments  shortly  before  the 
crime  was  committed  to  cover  himself  and  his 
movements  with  a  veil  of  spurious  mystery. 
In  a  word,  though  Theydon  had  likened  his 
visitor's  face  to  a  mask  of  ivory  he  had 
momentarily  forgotten  the  ominous  token 
found  on  Mrs.  Lester's  body  and  duplicated 
in  Forbes 's  own  house  by  the  morning's  post. 

Forbes  spread  wide  his  hands  with  the  air 
of  one  who  heard,  but  was  allowing  his 
thoughts  to  wander.  When  next  he  spoke  it 
was  only  to  increase  the  crazy  inconsequence 
of  their  talk. 

"Later — perhaps  today — perhaps  it  may 
never  be  necessary — I  may  explain  myself  to 


'CLOSE  QUARTERS  121 

your  heart's  content,"  he  said  slowly.  "At 
present  I  am  here  to  ask  a  favor.  In  the 
first  place,  is  Mrs.  Lester's  flat  in  charge  of 
the  police!" 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  Theydon. 

"Is  there  a  detective  or  constable  on  duty 
there  now?" 

"I  am  not  sure.  I  imagine  there  is  not. 
When  the  Scotland  Yard  men  and  I  came 
out  after  midnight  they  locked  the  door  and 
took  away  the  key.  The — er — body  is  at  the 
mortuary,  awaiting  the  opening  of  the  inquest 
at  three  o'clock." 

"Ah!  I  hoped  that  would  be  so.  Can  you 
ascertain  for  certain?" 

"But  why?" 

"Because  I  wish  to  go  in  there.  And  that 
brings  me  ta  the  favor  I  seek.  The  secretary 
of  these  flats,  even  the  hall  porter,  should 
have  a  master  key.  Borrow  it  on  some  pre- 
text. They  will  give  it  to  you." 

"Really,  Mr.  Forbes — "  gasped  Theydon, 
voicing  his  surprise  as  a  preliminary  to  a 
decided  refusal.  He  was  interrupted  by  the 
insistent  clang  of  the  telephone — that  curt 
herald  which  brooks  no  delay  in  answering  its 
demand  for  an  audience. 

"Pardon  me  one  moment,"  he  said.  "I'll 
just  see  who  that  is." 

The  inquirer  was  Evelyn  Forbes. 

"I've  waited  patiently — "   she  began,  but 


122  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

he  stopped  her  instantly  by  saying  that  her 
father  was  with  him. 

"Please  ask  him  to  come  to  the  phone," 
she  said. 

Forbes  rose  at  once.  He  merely  assured 
the  girl  that  he  was  engaged  in  important 
business  and  would  be  home  soon  after  the 
luncheon  hour.  Meanwhile,  she  was  not  to 
go  out,  and  his  orders  must  be  obeyed  to  the 
letter. 

"Now,  Theydon,"  he  said,  coming  back  to 
the  sitting  room,  "what  about  that  key?" 

The  most  extraordinary  feature  of  an 
extraordinary  case  was  the  way  in  which  the 
mere  sound  of  Evelyn  Forbes 's  voice  stilled 
any  qualms  of  conscience  in  Theydon 's  breast. 
He  knew  he  was  acting  foolishly  in  conducting 
a  blind  inquiry  on  his  own  account,  an  inquiry 
which  might  well  arouse  the  anger  and  active 
resentment  of  the  police,  but  he  offered  a  sop 
to  his  better  judgment  by  consulting  Bates. 

Then  came  a  veritable  surprise. 

"  The  fact  is,  sir,"  admitted  Bates  ner- 
vously, "we  have  Ann  Rogers 's  key  in  the 
kitchen.  When  she  went  away  on  Monday 
she  left  it  here,  bein'  afraid  of  losin'  it.  Of 
course,  she  took  it  on  Tuesday  mornin',  and 
after  goin'  from  one  fit  of  hysterics  into 
another  she  gev  it  to  us  again." 

Theydon 's  face  was  eloquent  of  the  serious 
view  of  this  avowal. 


CLOSE  QUARTERS  123 

"Did  you  tell  the  police?"  he  said. 

"No,  sir.  My  missus  an'  me  clean  forgot 
all  about  it." 

"So,  while  Mrs.  Lester  was  being  killed, 
the  key  of  her  flat  was  actually  in  your  pos- 
session?" 

"I  suppose  it  might  be  put  that  way,  sir." 

By  this  time  Theydon  was  becoming  exas- 
perated at  the  veritable  conspiracy  which  fate 
had  engineered  for  the  express  purpose,  ap- 
parently, of  entangling  him  in  an  abominable 
crime. 

"Why  on  earth  didn't  you  mention  such 
an  important  fact  to  the  detectives?"  he  al- 
most shouted,  "Don't  you  see  they  are 
bound  to  think — " 

"0,  a  plague  on  the  detectives  and  on  what 
they  think!"  broke  in  Forbes  imperiously. 
"It  doesn't  matter  a  straw  what  they  think, 
and  very  little  what  they  do.  This  affair 
goes  a  long  way  beyond  the  four-mile  radius, 
Theydon.  The  vital  point  is  that  your  man 
has  the  key.  Where  is  it?  Let  us  go  in  there 
at  once!" 

"You  offered  me  some  advice,  Mr.  Forbes," 
said  Theydon  firmly.  "Let  me  now  return  it 
in  kind.  If  you  wish  to  examine  Mrs.  Lester's 
flat  why  not  seek  the  permission  of  Scotland 
Yard?" 

"My  good  fellow,  I  have  spent  a  valuable 
hour  this  morning  in  persuading  the  Home 


124  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

Secretary  that  the  less  Scotland  Yard  inter- 
feres in  my  behalf  the  more  effectually  shall 
I  be  protected.  I  don't  want  any  detective 
within  a  mile  of  my  house  or  office.  But,  as 
I  have  told  you  already,  explanations  must 
wait —  You,  Bates,  look  a  man  who  can  hold 
his  tongue.  Do  so,  and  with  Mr.  Theydon's 
permission  I'll  make  it  worth  your  while 
when  this  storm  has  blown  over —  Now,  give 
me  that  key." 

Theydon  was  silenced,  if  not  convinced. 
He  realized,  of  course,  that  he  must  make  a 
full  confession  to  the  Criminal  Investigation 
Department  before  the  sun  went  down,  but 
argued  that  he  might  as  well  see  the  present 
adventure  through. 

Soon  he  and  Forbes  were  standing  at  the 
door  of  No.  17.  Forbes  curbed  his  impatience 
sufficiently  to  permit  of  any  one  who  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  interior  answering  the  sum- 
mons of  the  electric  bell.  Of  course,  no  one 
came.  The  police  had  no  reason  to  remain 
in  charge  of  the  place,  and  Ann  Rogers  would 
have  become  a  raving  lunatic  if  left  alone 
there  for  one  half -hour. 

The  aromatic  odor  of  the  burnt  joss  stick 
still  clung  to  the  suite  of  apartments,  and 
Forbes  noticed  it  at  once. 

" Where  was  the  body  found?"  he  asked. 

Theydon  led  the  way  to  the  bedroom.  He 
related  Winter's  theory  of  the  crime,  and 


CLOSE  QUARTERS  125 

pointed  out  its  seeming  aimlessness.  So  far 
as  the  police  could  ascertain  from  the  half- 
crazy  servant,  none  of  Mrs.  Lester's  jewels 
was  missing.  Even  her  gold  purse,  contain- 
ing a  fair  sum  of  money,  was  found  on  the 
dressing-table. 

He  did  not  know  that  the  detectives  had 
taken  away  a  few  scraps  of  torn  paper  thrown 
carelessly  into  the  grate  and  had  carefully 
gathered  up  a  tiny  snake-like  curl  of  white 
ash  from  the  tiled  hearth,  which,  on  analysis, 
would  probably  prove  to  be  the  remains  of 
the  joss  stick. 

Forbes  gazed  at  the  impression  on  the  side 
of  the  bed  as  though  the  body  of  the  woman 
whom  he  had  last  seen  in  full  possession  of 
her  grace  and  beauty  were  still  lying  there. 
The  vision  seemed  to  affect  him  profoundly. 
He  did  not  speak  for  fully  a  minute,  and,  when 
speech  came,  his  voice  was  low  and  strained. 

"Tell  me  everything  you  know,"  he  said. 
"The  Scotland  Yard  men  took  an  unusual 
step  in  admitting  you  to  their  conclave.  They 
must  have  had  some  motive.  Tell  me  what 
they  said,  their  very  words,  if  you  can  re- 
call them." 

Theydon'  was  uncomfortably  aware  of  a 
strange  compulsion  to  obey.  His  common- 
place, everyday  senses  cried  out  in  revolt, 
and  warned  him  that  he  was  tampering  dan- 
gerously with  matters  which  should  be  left 


126  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

to  the  cold  scrutiny  of  the  law,  but  some 
subconscious  instinct  overpowered  these  pru- 
dent monitors,  and  he  gave  an  almost  exact 
account  of  his  talk  with  Winter  and  Furneaux. 

Then  followed  questions,  eager,  searching, 
almost  uncanny  in  their  prescience. 

"The  little  one — who  strikes  me  as  having 
more  brains  than  I  credit  the  ordinary  Lon- 
don policeman  with — spoke  of  the  evil  deities 
of  China.  How  did  such  an  extraordinary 
topic  crop  up?" 

"In  connection  with  the  joss   stick." 

"Yes,  yes.    But  I  don't  see  the  inference." 

"Mr.  Winter  alluded  to  the  habit  some 
ladies  have  of  burning  such  incense  in  their 
houses,  whereupon  Furneaux  remarked  that 
the  Chinese  use  them  to  propitiate  harmful 
spirits." 

"Was  that  all?" 

Theydon  felt  insensibly  that  his  companion 
was  hinting  at  something  more  definite,  but 
he  was  bound  in  honor  to  respect  the  con- 
fidence reposed  in  him. 

"I  don't  quite  understand,"  he  temporized. 

"Was  nothing  said  as  to  the  finding  of 
some  object,  such  as  a  small  article  obviously 
Chinese  in  origin,  which  might  turn  an  in- 
quirer's thought  into  that  channel?" 

"The  conversation  I  am  relating  took  place 
the  moment  after  we  had  entered  the  flat. 
We  were  standing  in  the  hall.  It  was  wholly 


CLOSE  QUARTERS  127 

the  outcome  of  the  strange  smell  which  was 
immediately  perceptible. ' ' 

Forbes  passed  a  hand  over  his  eyes. 

"I  wonder,"  he  breathed. 

Then,  turning  quickly  on  Theydon,  he  re- 
peated the  question. 

"Are  you  quite  sure  they  did  not  mention 
the  discovery  in  this  room  of  any  object 
which  could  be  regarded,  even  remotely,  as 
a  sign  or  symbol  left  by  the  murderer  to 
show  that  his  crime  was  an  act  of  vengeance, 
or  retaliation?" 

Theydon  hesitated.  Unquestionably  he  was 
in  a  position  of  no  ordinary  difficulty.  But 
his  doubts  were  solved  by  an  interruption 
that  brought  his  heart  into  his  mouth,  be- 
cause a  thin,  high-pitched  voice  came  through 
the  half-open  door: 

"Are  you  thinking  of  a  small  ivory  skull, 
Mr.  Forbes!" 


CHAPTER  VH 

WHEREIN    ME.    FORBES    EXPLAINS    HIMSELF 

EVEN  the  boldest  may  flinch  when  con- 
fronted with  that  which  is  apparently  a 
manifestation  of  the  supernatural.  Theydon 
and  Forbes  were  standing  in  a  chamber  of 
death.  To  the  best  of  their  belief  they  were 
alone  in  an  otherwise  empty  flat,  and  those 
ominous  words  coming  from  some  one  un- 
known and  unseen  blanched  their  faces  with 
terror. 

But  Theydon  was  a  healthy  and  athletic 
young  Englishman,  and  Forbes  was  of  the 
rare  order  which  combines  a  frame  of  ex- 
ceptional physique  with  a  mind  accustomed  to 
think  imperially;  two  such  men  might  be 
trusted  to  display  real  grit  if  surrounded  by 
a  horde  of  veritable  spooks. 

The  door  was  thrown  wide  as  they  turned 
at  the  sound  of  the  words,  and  Theydon  rec- 
ognized in  a  strange  little  figure — wearing  a 
blue  serge  suit,  a  straw  hat  and  brown  boots 
— Furneaux,  the  man  whom  he  had  looked  on 
as  somewhat  of  a  crank  and  visionary  during 
their  talk  of  the  previous  night. 

"You!"  he  gasped,  and  the  note  of  rec- 

128 


MR.  FORBES  EXPLAINS  129 

ognition  was  sharpened  by  a  sudden  sense 
of  dismay,  almost  of  alarm,  because  of  the 
overwhelming  knowledge  that  *now  all  his 
scheming  had  collapsed,  while  the  representa- 
tives of  Scotland  Yard  would  regard  him  as 
nothing  more  than  a  poor  sort  of  trickster. 

But  Forbes  was  not  in  the  habit  of  yielding 
to  any  man,  no  matter  what  his  status,  or 
howsoever  awe-inspiring  might  be  the  depart- 
ment of  state  which  he  represented. 

"Who  the  devil  are  you,  at  any  rate?"  he 
cried  angrily.  "And  what  right  have  you  to 
spy  on  gentlemen  in  this  manner,  listening  to 
their  conversation,  and  breaking  in  with  a 
cheap  stage  effect  obviously  intended  to 
startle?" 

Furneaux  remained  motionless,  his  feet  set 
well  apart  and  his  hands  thrust  into  his 
trousers  pockets.  The  trim,  natty  figure,  the 
spruce  and  Summer-like  attire,  the  small, 
wizened  face  with  its  cynically  humorous  and 
wide-awake  aspect — above  all,  a  certain  jaunt- 
iness  of  air  and  cocksure  expression — cer- 
tainly did  not  suggest  a  comedian  fresh  from 
the  boards. 

"You  tell,"  he  said,  nodding  to  Theydon. 

"This  is  Mr.  Furneaux  of  Scotland  Yard," 
said  the  latter  nervously.  He  imagined  he 
could  detect  in  Furneaux 's  glance  a  mixture 
of  amusement  and  contempt,  amusement  at 
the  notion  that  any  amateur  should  harbor 


130  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

the  belief  that  the  two  best  men  in  the 
1  'Yard"  could  be  egregiously  hoodwinked,  and 
contempt  of  one  who  so  far  forgot  himself 
as  even  to  dare  attempt  such  a  thing  in 
relation  to  a  police  inquiry  into  a  murder. 

"I  don't  know,  and  care  less,  who  Mr.  Fur- 
neaux  of  Scotland  Yard  may  be,"  went  on 
Forbes  hotly.  "I  resent  his(  intrusion,  and 
wish  to  be  relieved  of  his  presence." 

"Why?"  said  Furneaux. 

"I  have  given  my  reasons  to  the  Home 
Secretary.  That  mere  statement  must  suffice 
for  you." 

"Beally,  I  must  ask  you  to  be  more  ex- 
plicit." 

"I  visited  the  Home  Office  this  morning, 
and  placed  such  evidence  in  the  hands  of  the 
Home  Secretary  that  Scotland  Yard  will 
be  requested  to  suspend  all  further  inves- 
tigation into  the  death  of  Mrs.  Lester." 

"Do  you  mean  that  the  Home  Secretary 
has  sanctioned  the  breaking  off  of  this  in- 
quiry. ' ' 

"In  the  conditions — " 

"Because,  if  that  is  what  your  words  imply, 
Mr.  Forbes,  I  may  tell  you  at  once  that  I 
don't  believe  you.  It  is  more  than  any  Home 
Secretary  dare  do,  and  if  you  harbor  any 
lingering  doubts  on  the  point,  go  to  Mr. 
Theydon's  telephone,  ring  up  the  Home  Office, 


MR.  FORBES  EXPLAINS  131 

and  tell  the  gentleman  at  the  other  end  of 
the  wire  exactly  what  I  have  said.  Of  course 
you  really  don't  mean  anything  of  the  sort. 
By  virtue  of  some  special  and  inside  knowl- 
edge of  certain  facts  communicated  to  the 
Home  Secretary,  you  may  have  persuaded 
him  to  promise  that,  provided  the  ends  of 
justice  are  not  defeated  thereby,  every  pre- 
caution will  be  taken  to  keep  the  main  lines 
of  the  inquiry  secret  until  the  whole  posi- 
tion can  be  laid  before  the  law  officers  of  the 
Crown.  The  Home  Secretary  may  have  gone 
that  far,  Mr.  Forbes,  but  not  one  inch  farther, 
and  you  know  it." 

The  two  antagonists,  so  singularly  dis- 
proportionate in  size,  were  yet  so  perfectly 
matched  in  the  vastly  more  important  qual- 
ities of  brain  and  nerve  that  the  contest  lost 
all  sense  of  inequality.  Theydon  felt  himself 
of  no  account  in  this  duel.  He  was  like  an 
urchin  watching  open-mouthed  a  combat  of 
gladiators. 

Forbes,  not  without  a  perceptible  effort, 
choked  down  his  wrath  and  recovered  his 
poise. 

"You  have  gaged  the  state  of  affairs  ac- 
curately enough,"  he  said,  speaking  more 
calmly.  "May  I,  then,  recommend  you  to 
consult  your  direct  superiors  before  carrying 
your  investigations  any  furthur,  Mr. — " 

"  Furneaux — Charles  Francois  Furneaux." 


132  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

11  Just  so,  Mr.  Charles  Francois  Furneaux." 

"I  give  you  my  full  name,  because  one  of 
the  peculiar  features  of  this  case  is  the  in- 
ability of  some  persons  mixed  up  in  it  to  re- 
call names,  or  even  the  mere  salient  facts," 
and  the  detective's  glance  dwelt  for  an  instant 
on  Theydon,  who,  again,  in  his  own  estima- 
tion, shrank  into  the  boots  of  a  fourth-form 
boy  detected  by  a  master  in  an  overt  breach  of 
college  rules. 

But  the  little  man  was  speaking  impres- 
sively, and  Theydon  compelled  his  wandering 
wits  to  pay  attention. 

"It  will  clear  the  air,  perhaps,"  went  on 
Furneaux,  "if  I  point  out  that  if  any  one  here 
is  playing  the  spy — carrying  on  some  under- 
handed game,  that  is — it  is  not  I.  These 
apartments  are  in  charge  of  the  police.  The 
manager  of  the  whole  block  of  flats  and  the 
porter  of  this  particular  section  have  been 
warned  that  no  one  can  be  allowed  to  enter 
No.  17,  on  any  pretext,  until  our  inquiry  is 
closed.  Now,  Mr.  Forbes,  kindly  explain 
how  you  contrived  to  get  possession  of  a 
key." 

An  experienced  man  of  the  world  like 
Forbes  could  hardly  fail  to  see  that  he  was 
in  a  false  position,  and  that  any  persistent 
attempt  to  browbeat  the  detective  would 
not  only  meet  with  utter  failure  but  might 
possibly  compromise  him  gravely. 


MR.  FORBES  EXPLAINS  133 

"That  was  a  simple  matter,"  he  said. 
"Mrs.  Lester's  servant  left  her  key  in  Mr. 
Theydon's  establishment.  Bates  surprised 
both  his  master  and  me  by  producing  it  when 
I  expressed  a  wish  to  examine  the  place." 

"But  why  adopt  such  a  clandestine 
method?" 

Forbes 's  face,  usually  so  classic  in  outline, 
assumed  a  certain  rigidity,  and  his  firm  chin 
grew  markedly  aggressive. 

"I  don't  answer  questions  put  in  that 
way,"  he  said. 

Furneaux  laughed  sardonically. 

"You  meet  with  greater  respect  in  Capel 
Court,  I  have  no  doubt,"  he  snapped.  "There 
you  stand  on  a  pedestal,  with  one  hand  flour- 
ishing a  check-book  and  the  other  resting 
gracefully  on  the  neck  of  a  golden  calf.  Here, 
you  are  simply  an  ordinary  citizen  behaving 
in  a  suspicious  manner.  If  the  uniformed 
policeman  on  the  neighboring  beat  knew 
what  I  know  of  your  recent  movements  he 
would  arrest  you  without  ceremony,  and 
charge  you  with  being  concerned  in  the 
murder  of  Mrs.  Lester.  Between  you  and  Mr. 
Theydon,  the  work  of  my  department  has  been 
hindered  and  burked  most  scandalously.  Don't 
glare  at  me  like  that!  I  don't  care  tuppence 
for  your  millions  and  your  social  position. 
"What  I  do  care  about  is  the  horrible  risk  you 
and  each  member  of  your  family  are  incurring. 


134  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

You  know  why,  and  while  you  are  still  alive  I 
mean  to  force  you  to  speak.  Tell  me  now 
why  Mrs.  Lester  was  killed.  Tell  me,  too, 
why  the  same  hand  which  thrust  a  little  ivory 
skull  into  the  dead  woman's  underbodice 
caused  a  similar  token  to  be  delivered  to  you 
by  this  morning's  post.  Ah,  that  touches  you, 
does  it!  Now,  my  worthy  financier  and 
philanthropist,  step  down  from  your  ped- 
estal and  behave  like  a  being  of  flesh  and 
blood!" 

Forbes  positively  wilted  under  that  extraor- 
dinary attack.  His  white  face  grew  wan,  and 
his  eyes  dilated  with  surprise  and  terror.  The 
detective's  words  seemed  to  have  the  effect  of 
a  paralytic  shock.  Thenceforth  he  was  under 
dog  in  the  fight. 

"How  do  you  know,"  he  gasped,  "that  I 
received  an  ivory  skull  this  morning?  Have 
you  been  to  my  house?  Did  my  daughter 
tell  you?" 

Furneaux  chuckled. 

"You're  ready  to  listen,  eh?  Well,  I  don't 
mind  telling  you  that  I  have  not  stirred  out 
of  this  flat  since  seven  o'clock  this  morning, 
and  I  question  if  your  letters  were  delivered 
in  Fortescue  Square  at  that  hour." 

"I  give  in,"  said  Forbes  curtly.  "Need  we 
remain  here?  The  smell  of  that  cursed  joss 
stick  oppresses  me." 

Then  Theydon  found  his  tongue. 


MR.  FORBES  EXPLAINS  135 

"If  Mr.  Furneaux  cares  to  abandon  his 
vigil,  my  flat  is  entirely  at  your  disposal," 
he  said. 

"My  vigil,  as  you  accurately  describe  it, 
has  ended  for  the  time  being,"  said  Fur- 
neaux, apparently  mollified  by  the  million- 
aire's surrender.  "I  was  sure  that  if  I  re- 
mained here  long  enough  I  would  clear  away 
some  of  the  fog  attached  to  a  case  which 
promises  to  be  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
I  have  ever  investigated.  Come,  gentlemen, 
let  us  be  amiable  to  one  another.  I'm  sorry 
if  I  lost  my  temper  just  now,  but  I  regard 
myself  as  being  the  only  detective  in  existence 
who  uses  other  sections  of  his  brain  than  those 
governed  by  statutes  made  and  provided,  and 
it  riles  me  when  men  of  superior  intelligence 
like  yourselves  treat  me  as  though  my  mission 
in  life  was  to  direct  the  traffic  and  keep  a  sharp 
eye  on  mischievous  juveniles.  .  .  .  Mr.  They- 
don,  can  that  soldier-servant  of  yours  make 
coffee!" 

"His  wife  can,"  said  Theydon. 

"Will  you  be  good  enough,  then,  to  set 
her  to  work?  Thus  far,  since  the  sun  rose, 
I  have  stayed  the  pangs  of  hunger  with 
an  apple  and  a  glass  of  water." 

By  this  time,  Theydon  had  thoroughly  re- 
vised his  first  estimate  of  the  diminutive  de- 
tective. Indeed,  he  was  beginning  to  look  on 
him  as  a  quite  noteworthy  person,  a  man 


136  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

whose  mental  equipment  it  was  most  unwise 
to  assess  at  any  lower  valuation  than  the 
somewhat  exalted  one  which  Furneaux  himself 
had  set  forth  with  such  refreshing  candor. 

As  for  Forbes,  the  millionaire  seemed  to 
have  sunk  into  a  species  of  stupor  since  Fur- 
neaux spoke  of  the  ivory  skull.  He  uttered 
no  word  until  the  three  were  seated  in  They- 
don's  room,  and  his  expression  was  so  woe- 
begone that  it  stirred  even  the  mercurial 
Jerseyite  to  pity. 

1  'I  imagine  that  a  cup  of  coffee  will  do 
you  also  a  world  of  good,"  he  said.  Then, 
whirling  round  on  Theydon,  he  stuck  a  ques- 
tion into  him  as  if  each  word  was  a  stiletto. 

"Where  do  you  get  your  coffee?" 

"At  the  grocer's,"  was  the  surprised  an- 
swer. 

"Is  that  all  you  know  about  it?" 

"Yes." 

"Singular  thing,  isn't  it?"  mused  the  de- 
tective aloud,  "how  idiotic  men  and  women 
can  be  in  their  attitude  to  the  supreme  things 
of  life.  What  is  of  greater  importance  than 
the  food  we  eat  and  the  liquors  we  drink? 
Through  them  the  body  reconstitutes  itself 
hourly  and  daily.  Providence  gives  us  a  per- 
fect engine,  yet  we  clog  and  choke  its  shafts 
and  cylinders  by  supplying  it  haphazard  with 
any  sort  of  fuel  and  lubricant,  no  matter  how 
unsuited  either  may  be  to  its  purpose.  Take 


MR.  FORBES  EXPLAINS  137 

coffee,  for  instance.  The  physiological  action 
of  coffee  depends  on  the  presence  of  the  alka- 
loid caffeine,  which  varies  from  0.6  percent  in 
the  Arabian  berry  to  2  percent  in  that  of 
Sierra  Leone.  Again,  the  aromatic  oil,  caf- 
feine, which  is  developed  by  roasting,  in- 
creases in  quantity  the  longer  the  seeds  are 
kept.  Unfortunately,  coffee  beans  lose  weight 
during  storage,  so  you  have  a  clear  com- 
mercial reason  why  grocers  should  not  sell  the 
best  coffee,  unless  under  compulsion  of  an  en- 
lightened public  opinion.  Now  you,  Mr. 
Forbes,  would  never  dream  of  putting  your 
money  into  a  investment  without  full  and 
careful  inquiry  into  the  history  and  scope  of 
the  proposed  undertaking,  while  our  young 
friend  here  would  snort  furiously  at  a  split 
infinitive  or  a  false  rhyme,  yet,  when  I  submit 
the  vital  problem  of  the  sort  of  coffee  you 
imbibe — the  very  essence  and  nutriment  of 
your  brains  and  bodies — you  hear  the  kind  of 
answer  I  receive." 

All  this,  of  course,  was  excellent  fooling, 
intended  to  dispel  the  brooding  horror  which 
had  suddenly  descended  upon  Forbes  since  it 
was  borne  in  on  him  that  the  demoniac  wrath 
wreaked  on  Mrs.  Lester  was  now  directed  with 
equal  ferocity  against  his  family  and  him- 
self. 

To  an  extent,  Furneaux's  scheme  succeeded. 
A  gleam  of  interest  shot  from  the  mil- 


138  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

lionaire's  eyes.  They  lost  their  introspective 
look.  He  even  smiled  wistfully. 

"You  are  a  man  after  my  own  heart,  Mr. 
Furneaux,"  he  said.  "I  had  no  idea  that  the 
Criminal  Investigation  Department  employed 
philosophers  of  your  caliber.  I  suppose  that 
you  and  I  are  about  to  swallow  coffee  con- 
taining indeterminate  percentages  of  the  chief 
constituents  you  named." 

1  'One  does  not  look  at  gift  coffee  in  the 
cup,"  grinned  the  little  man,  obviously  well 
pleased  with  himself.  "But,  if  ever  you  two 
gentlemen  favor  my  obscure  dwelling  with  a 
visit,  and  partake  of  a  meal,  you  will  have 
a  strict  analysis  with  every  bite  and  sup. 
There  is  a  grocer  in  Battersea  who  used  to 
tremble  at  sight  of  me.  Now  he  has  learned 
wisdom,  and  has  quadrupled  his  trade  by 
publishing  learned  disquisitions  on  the  nature 
and  quality  of  each  principal  article  he  sells. 
You  ought  to  read  his  treatise  on  butter.  He 
is  an  authority  on  the  dietetic  value  of  jam. 
The  nutritive  properties  of  his  cheese  are 
ruining  the  local  butchers." 

Furneaux 's  efforts  were  rewarded  when  the 
really  excellent  beverage  provided  by  Mrs. 
Bates  was  disposed  of.  Forbes  seemingly 
atoned  for  his  earlier  secretiveness  by  placing 
every  fact  in  his  possession  fully  and  fairly 
before  his  auditors. 

"Nearly    seven    years    ago,"    he    said,    "I 


MR.  FORBES  EXPLAINS  139 

made  a  very  large  sum  of  money  by  amal- 
gamating certain  shipping  interests  at  a 
favorable  moment.  Thus,  as  it  happened,  I 
had  at  command  practically  unlimited  re- 
sources when  I  was  asked  to  finance  the  cause 
of  reform  in  China.  The  wretched  lot  of  the 
Chinese  Nation  had  always  appealed  to  my 
sympathies.  Some  hundreds  of  millions  of 
the  most  industrious  and  peace-loving  people 
in  the  world  have  been  exploited  for  centuries 
by  a  predatory  caste.  Given  a  chance  to  ex- 
pand, freed  from  the  shackles  of  the  Manchus, 
the  Chinese,  in  my  opinion,  contain  the  ele- 
ments which  go  to  form  a  great  race.  But  the 
Manchus  held  them  in  bondage,  body  and  soul, 
and,  so  powerful  is  self-interest,  there  has 
never  been  an  Emperor  or  statesman  who 
strove  to  elevate  the  masses  who  was  not 
mercilessly  assassinated  as  soon  as  he  allowed 
his  intent  to  become  known.  The  only  path  to 
freedom  lay  through  revolution,  and  I  had 
reason  to  believe  that  the  ruling  faction  could 
be  overthrown  by  a  well-organized  and  prop- 
erly financed  movement  without  the  appalling 
bloodshed  which  often  accompanies  such  dy- 
nastic changes.  At  any  rate,  I  entered  the  con- 
spiracy, heart  and  soul.  But  I  met  with  two 
difficulties  at  the  outset.  I  could  not  exercise 
efficient  financial  control  in  London,  and  I 
could  neither  go  and  live  In  the  Far  East 
nor  transact  my  business  through  ordinary 


140  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

banking  channels.  So  I  had  to  find  a  sub- 
stitute, and  my  choice  fell  on  a  rising  young 
barrister  named  Arthur  Lester,  whom  I  had 
known  since  he  was  a  boy  who  had  mar- 
ried the  daughter  of  an  old  friend.  He  had  a 
taste  for  adventure,  and  was  alive  to  the 
magnificent  career  which  lay  before  one  who 
helped  materially  in  the  rebirth  of  China. 
In  a  word,  he  went  to  Shanghai  as  my  agent, 
and  the  outcome  of  his  work  there  is  the 
present  Chinese  constitution.  Of  course,  as 
holds  good  in  all  human  affairs,  events  did  not 
follow  the  precise  track  mapped  out  for  them. 
But,  on  the  whole,  he  and  I  were  satisfied. 
China  is  awake  at  last.  The  giant  has  stir- 
red, and,  if  his  first  uncertain  steps  have 
deviated  from  the  open  road  of  reform,  he  will 
never  again  sink  into  the  torpor  of  the  past 
centuries.  Manchu  arrogance  and  domination, 
at  any  rate,  are  shadows  of  the  past,  but  un- 
happily, the  conquerors  who  have  been  so 
effectually  thrust  aside  have  now  embarked 
on  a  secret  campaign  of  vengeance  and  re- 
action. A  society  which  calls  itself  the  *  Young 
Manchus'  is  inspired  by  one  principle,  and 
one  only,  and  that  is  'death  to  the  reformers.' 
I  don't  suppose  you  gentlemen  follow  closely 
the  trend  of  affairs  in  China,  but  you  must 
have  read  of  the  assassinations  of  prominent 
men  reported  occasionally  in  the  newspapers." 
Furneaux  clicked  his  tongue  so  loudly  that 


MR.  FORBES  EXPLAINS  141 

Forbes  stopped  speaking  and  looked  at  him, 
thinking,  apparently,  that  the  little  detective 
meant  to  say  something.  He  did,  but  it  was 
Theydon  whom  he  addressed. 

"I'd  give  a  week's  pay  if  Winter  was  here 
now,  and  I  could  see  those  big  eyes  of  his 
bulging  out  of  his  head,"  he  cackled. 

Theydon  nodded.  He  understood  perfectly. 
Then  he  caught  Forbes 's  inquiring  glance,  and 
explained  matters. 

"-Mr.  Furneaux  hinted  last  night  at  some 
such  development  as  that  which  your  present 
statement  conveys,  and  his  colleague,  Mr. 
Winter,  pretended  to  scout  it,"  he  said. 

"Pretended!"  shrieked  Furneaux,  instantly 
in  a  rage. 

"That  was  how  it  struck  me,"  said  They- 
don coolly. 

"Didn't  I  drag  the  Chinese  aspect  of  the 
crime  out  of  him  with  pincers?"  came  the 
indignant  demand. 

"Unquestionably.  I  only  remark  that  your 
large-sized  friend  had  it  tucked  away  all  the 
time  at  the  back  of  his  head." 

Furneaux  pounded  the  table  so  viciously 
that  the  cups  rattled. 

"Of  course,  he  has  a  nose  to  smell  joss 
sticks,  and  eyes  to  see  an  ivory  skull,  but 
didn't  he  say  I  was  talking  nonsense  when  I 
spoke  about  Shang  Ti  scowling  from  a  por- 
celain vase?"  he  shrilled. 


142  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"Yes.  For  all  that,  I  don't  think  he  missed 
the  least  hint  of  your  meaning." 

Furneaux  gazed  at  Theydon  fixedly. 

"Sorry,"  he  said,  with  an  acid  tone  that 
was  almost  malicious.  "I  imagined  you  were 
so  busy  throwing  dust  in  our  eyes  that  you 
wouldn't  have  noticed  such  fine  shades  of 
perception  on  Winter's  part." 

But  Theydon  was  now  able  to  measure  this 
strange  little  man  with  some  degree  of  ac- 
curacy; he  only  smiled. 

"As  a  thrower  of  dust  I  was  a  most  abject 
failure,"  he  said. 

Furneaux  smiled  and  turned  to  the  mil- 
lionaire. 

"Pardon  the  interruption,"  he  said.  "Like 
every  artist,  I  am  pained  when  my  best  efforts 
are  scoffed  at  by  heedless  mediocrity.  You, 
at  least,  will  understand  what  a  big  thing  it 
was  to  deduce  even  the  vaguest  outline  of  the 
truth  from  the  facts  at  my  command." 

"I  certainly  do,"  agreed  Forbes.  "Until 
this  morning  I  was  convinced  that  Mrs.  Les- 
ter's death  removed  the  one  person  in  Eng- 
land who  knew  of  my  connection  with  the 
revolution  in  China.  To  revert  to  the  Young 
Manchus — they  have  secured  far  more  vic- 
tims than  the  world  at  large  is  aware  of. 
I  am  sure  that  they  poisoned  Arthur  Les- 
ter, and  his  wife  held  the  same  view.  They 
aim  at  nothing  less  than  the  extinction  of  the 


MR.  FORBES  EXPLAINS  143 

democratic  cause  by  the  murder  of  every 
prominent  man  connected  with  it.  But  they 
never  yet  have  been  able  to  obtain  a  full  and 
authentic  list  of  the  reform  leaders.  They 
suspected  poor  Lester  of  complicity  in  the 
movement,  and  killed  him.  It  was  through 
Mrs.  Lester  that  I  first  became  aware  of  their 
existence  as  an  active  organization,  and  I 
hoped  that  when  she  had  returned  to  England, 
and  was  living  quietly  in  London,  she  would 
be  lost  sight  of — ignored,  in  fact.  Never- 
theless, both  she  and  I  thought  it  prudent 
that  our  acquaintance  should  cease  until 
the  turmoil  in  China  had  subsided.  For 
that  reason  I  never  visited  her,  nor  did 
I  permit  the  growth  of  friendship  between 
her  and  my  wife  and  daughter — a  friendship 
which,  in  happier  conditions,  would  have  been 
natural  and  inevitable.  But  we  were  woe- 
fully mistaken.  An  Oriental  vendetta  neither 
slackens  nor  dies.  By  some  means  wholly  un- 
known to  me,  the  Young  Manchus  must  have 
discovered,  or  guessed,  that  in  leaving  Les- 
ter's widow  out  of  their  reckoning  they  had 
lost  a  promising  clew.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
they  followed  her  to  London,  and,  by  a  singu- 
lar fatajity,  I  was  the  first  to  know  of  it. 
Last  Monday,  while  driving  home  from  the 
city,  my  car  was  held  up  in  Piccadilly  for  a 
few  seconds.  Looking  idly  out  at  the  passing 
crowd,  I  saw  a  Chinaman  in  European  clothes. 


144  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

He  was  waiting  to  cross  the  road,  so  I  was 
able  to  scrutinize  him  carefully,  and,  owing  to 
a  scar  on  the  left  side  of  his  face,  recognized 
him.  His  name  is  Wong  Li  Fu,  a  Manchu  of 
the  Manchus,  a  mandarin  of  almost  imperial 
lineage.  Some  years  ago  he  was  a  young 
attache  at  the  Chinese  Embassy  here.  Sud- 
denly, while  on  the  way  to  my  house,  I  recol- 
lected that  certain  members  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary Committee  had  spoken  of  this  very 
man  as  being  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  un- 
scrupulous adherents  of  the  Manchu  faction  in 
Pekin.  Somehow,  his  presence  in  London  was 
disconcerting  and  menacing.  Who  more  likely 
than  he,  I  argued,  to  be  a  leading  spirit  among 
the  Young  Manchus?  In  any  event,  London 
was  not  big  enough  to  hold  both  Mrs.  Lester 
and  him,  and  I  decided  to  visit  her  that  very 
night,  tell  her  I  had  seen  Wong  Li  Fu,  and 
advise  her  to  go  away  into  the  country,  leav- 
ing no  record  of  her  whereabouts.  I  happened 
to  be  taking  my  daughter  to  Daly's  Theater, 
and  contrived  to  slip  away  on  some  pretext 
after  the  performance.  I  found  Mrs.  Lester 
alone  in  her  flat,  and  she  fell  in  with  my 
views  at  once,  because  she,  too,  had  heard  of 
this  very  man,  and  the  mere  sound  of  his  name 
terrified  her.  I  was  half  inclined  to  urge  that 
she  should  go  to  an  hotel  for  the  night,  but  the 
lateness  of  the  hour  and  the  seeming  fact  that 


MR.  FORBES  EXPLAINS  145 

if  danger  threatened  she  was  safe  at  least  till 
the  morrow,  prevented  me." 

Furneaux,  sitting  on  the  edge  of  a  chair, 
his  head  bent  forward,  his  piercing  black  eyes 
intent  as  those  of  a  hawk,  a  hand  resting 
on  each  knee,  his  attitude  curiously  suggestive 
of  a  readiness  to  spring  forward  at  any  in- 
stant, now  leaned  over  and  tapped  the  mil- 
lionaire decisively  on  the  shoulder. 

"You  couldn't  have  saved  her,  Mr.  Forbes," 
he  said  gravely.  "She  was  marked  down  as 
the  first  warning.  Didn't  the  letter  you  re- 
ceived this  morning  tell  you  something  of  the 
sort!" 

Agitation  gave  place  to  utter  astonishment 
in  Forbes 's  face. 

"In  Heaven's  name,  how  do  you  know  any- 
thing of  any  letter?"  he  cried. 

"I  will  tell  you  later.    But  am  I  not  right?" 

"Yes,  you  are." 

"Where  is  it?    May  I  see  it!" 

Forbes  took  a  creased  and  soiled  document 
from  a  small,  flat  cardboard  box  which  he 
carried  in  the  breast  pocket  of  his  coat.  But 
first  he  withdrew  from  the  box  a  little  object, 
and  placed  it  on  the  table.  It  was  an  ivory 
skull,  and  the  very  presence  of  such  a  sinister 
token  brought^  some  hint  of  the  charnel-house 
into  the  cozy  and  sunlit  room. 

Furneaux,  a  creature  oddly  constituted  ei- 
ther of  all  nerves  or  of  no  nerves,  disregarded 


146  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

the  skull.  He  had  eyes  only  for  the  few  words 
typed  on  a  single  sheet  of  note-paper.  They 
ran: 

' 'James  Creighton  Forbes:  If  you  are  will- 
ing to  come  to  terms,  announce  the  fact  by 
advertisement  in  Thursday's  Times.  Address 
your  reply  to  Y.  M.,  and  sign  it  'J.  C.  F.' 
Yield,  and  you  will  hear  further.  Refuse,  and 
no  other  warning  will  be  given. " 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    FIRST    COUNTER-STROKE 

FURNEAUX  apparently  made  up  his  mind 
with  reference  to  the  contents  of  a  somewhat 
enigmatic  message  after  one  quick,  unerring 
perusal. 

"The  man  who  wrote  that  took  a  great 
many  things  for  granted,"  he  said.  "He  as- 
sumed, firstly,  that  you  knew  of  Mrs.  Lester's 
death  and  understood  its  significance;  sec- 
ondly, that  you  are  aware  of  the  nature  of 
the  '  terms '  he  will  offer ;  thirdly,  that  you  may 
hesitate  between  compliance  and  threatened 
death.  *Y.  M.,'  of  course,  can  be  read  as 
'Young  Manchus.'  Even  there,  the  writer 
exhibits  artistic  reticence.  .  .  .  Frankly,  Mr. 
Forbes,  I  wish  you  had  come  straight  to 
Scotland  Yard  on  Monday  evening  instead  of 
wasting  those  precious  hours  at  Daly's 
Theater." 

Forbes  was  moved  to  energetic  protest. 

"How  was  I  to  deduce  the  true  nature  of 
these  hell  hounds'  mission  from  a  casual 
glance  vouchsafed  of  one  who  may  or  may 
not  be  their  leader?"  he  cried. 

147 


148  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"Yet  you  treated  your  discovery  as  serious 
enough  to  warrant  a  prompt  visit  to  the  wo- 
man with  whom  association  was  dangerous?" 
"Yes;  I  wanted  to  act  secretly." 
"Just  so.  You  were  afraid  the  police  would 
bungle  the  job.  Between  you  and  Mr.  They- 
don,  you  have  exhibited  remarkable  skill  in 
heading  us  off  the  scent.  Fortunately,  we  were 
able  to  dispense  with  your  assistance,  having 
other  matters  to  occupy  our  brains.  You  two 
were  ripe  nuts  waiting  to  be  cracked  and  have 
the  contents  extracted  at  leisure.  There  were 
a  few  freshly  broken  shells  lying  about  which 
invited  immediate  attention.  For  instance, 
some  four  months  ago,  a  well-known  and 
reputable  firm  of  private  inquiry  agents  was 
instructed  from  Canton  to  secure  all  possible 
information  about  Mrs.  Lester  and  you — yes, 
you,  Mr.  Forbes — your  household,  friends, 
methods  of  living,  servants,  tradesmen, — every 
sort  of  fact,  indeed,  which  might  be  useful  to 
a  thoroughgoing  and  well-organized  society  of 
cutthroats  like  the  Young  Manchus.  The  in- 
quiry agents  did  their  work  well,  and  were 
handsomely  paid  for  it.  I  haven't  the  least 
doubt  that  Wong  Li  Fu  knows  what  brand  of 
cigars  you  favor,  and  what  you  eat  for  break- 
fast. His  informants  sent  us  a  copy  of  their 
notes  an  hour  after  the  murder  was  announced 
in  the  newspapers.  Mr.  Lester  is  l removed' 
in  Shanghai.  His  widow  comes  home.  The 


THE  FIRST  COUNTER-STROKE    149 

inquiry  agents  receive  instructions.  They 
forward  their  report  to  Canton,  and  Wong  Li 
Fu  turns  up  in  London.  The  program  is  a 
tribute  to  the  excellence  and  regularity  of  the 
mail  service  between  England  and  the  Far 
East." 

While  the  detective  was  speaking,  Forbes 's 
face,  already  haggard,  had  grown  desperate. 

"I  care  little  for  my  own  life,"  he  said, 
"but  I  shall  stop  short  of  no  measures  to 
protect  my  wife  and  daughter." 

"I  certainly  recommend  that  an  armed 
guard  should  be  on  duty  day  and  night  in 
any  house  where  you  may  happen  to  be 
living  at  the  moment,"  replied  Furneaux 
airily.  "I  really  think  that  if  your  safety 
alone  were  at  stake  I  would  do  you  a  good 
turn  by  arresting  you  on  suspicion." 

"On  suspicion  of  what  crime?" 

"Of  killing  Mrs.  Lester,  to  be  sure." 

"I  regard  you  as  a  clever  man,  Mr.  Fur- 
neaux, so  may  I  remind  you  that  this  is 
neither  the  time  nor  the  place  for  a  display 
of  gross  humor?" 

Theydon  expected  that  Furneaux  would 
flare  into  anger  at  this  well-deserved  rebuke; 
but,  much  to  his  surprise,  the  detective  treated 
the  matter  argumentatively. 

"Personally,  I  have  looked  on  you  from 
the  outset  as  an  innocent  man,"  he  said 
placidly.  "But,  just  to  show  how  circum- 


150  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

stantial  evidence  may  be  twisted  into  plausible 
error,  let  me  point  out  that  nearly  all  the 
known  facts  conspire  against  you.  Have  you 
considered  how  dexterously  a  prosecuting 
counsel  would  treat  your  admission  that  Mrs. 
Lester  was  the  one  person  in  England  who 
knew  of  your  connection  with  the  revolu- 
tionary party  in  China?  And  how  would  you 
set  about  convincing  a  stolid  British  jury  that 
you  were  acting  in  the  interests  of  law  and 
order  in  concealing  your  visit  to  No.  17  on  the 
night  of  the  murder?  These  fine-drawn  specu- 
lations, however,  are  a  sheer  waste  of  breath. 
Suppose  we  concoct  an  advertisement  for  the 
Times?  " 

"Do  you  mean  that  I  am  to  parley  with 
these  ruffians  f" 

"  Of  course  you  are." 

"But  the  Home  Secretary  agreed  with  me 
that    no    action    should    be    taken    until    the 
Chinese  Legation  had  considered  the  matter." 
~"And,  pray,  what  can  the  Legation  do!" 

"They  have  their  own  sources  of  informa- 
tion. When  all  is  said  and  done,  Orientals 
are  best  fitted  to  deal  with  Orientals." 

Furneaux  laughed  sarcastically. 

"If  I  remember  rightly,  the  way  in  which 
the  Chinese  Embassy  dealt  with  one  of  your 
pet  reformers  some  years  ago  did  not  win 
general  approval.  No,  Mr.  Forbes,  we  must 
try  and  circumvent  the  wily  Chinese  by  other 


THE  FIRST  COUNTER-STROKE    151 

methods  than  torture  and  imprisonment.  Of 
what  avail  will  it  be  if  this  fellow,  Wong  Li 
Fu,  is  laid  by  the  heels?  Isn't  it  more  than 
certain  that  he  has  plenty  of  determined 
helpers?  Do  you  imagine  that  he  killed  Mrs. 
Lester?  Not  a  bit  of  it.  He  will  be  able  to 
produce  the  clearest  proof  that  he  was  miles 
away  from  Innesmore  Mansions  on  Monday 
night.  Now,  let's  see  how  we  can  get  him  to 
show  his  hand  a  little  more  openly.  How 
would  this  be?  'Y.  M. — Terms  can  be  ar- 
ranged. J.  C.  F.'  The  terms  are,  of  course, 
that  the  whole  gang  be  hanged  or  sent  to 
penal  servitude  and  deported." 

"One  moment,"  struck  in  Theydon.  "I 
have  something  to  say  before  you  decide  on 
any  definite  action.  I  need  hardly  inflict  on 
you,  Mr.  Furneaux,  an  explanation  of  my 
silence  hitherto.  I  don't  even  apologize  for 
it.  Faced  by  a  similar  dilemma  tomorrow  I 
should  probably  take  the  same  line.  But,  to 
adopt  your  own  simile,  now  that  Mr.  Forbes 
has  come  out  of  his  shell,  and  admits  his 
presence  here  on  Monday  night,  my  self- 
imposed  restrictions  cease.  In  the  first  place, 
then,  Miss  Beale  came  here  this  morning — " 

"Excellent!  I  wondered  who  the  lady  was," 
put  in  Furneaux. 

"And,  secondly,  the  gray  car  which  pur- 
sued me  on  Monday  seems  to  have  been  partly 
identified  later.  A  car  resembling  it  in  every 


152  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

detail  deposited  some  one  at  the  Chinese 
Legation  in  Portland  Place,  at  an  hour  which 
corresponds  closely  with  its  presence  here." 

"Ah,  that  is  important!  I  like  that!  I 
wasn't  far  wrong  when  I  sensed  you  as  an 
absolute  carrier  of  clew-germs  in  this  affair," 
cried  Furneaux. 

"The  Chinese  Embassy!"  gasped  Forbes. 
"What  car?  And  why  should  any  car  pur- 
sue you!  Do  you  mean  that  you  were  fol- 
lowed on  leaving  my  house?" 

It  was  lamentable  to  watch  the  inroad  which 
each  successive  shock  was  making  on  Forbes 's 
physical  resources,  but  Theydon  affected  to 
ignore  the  new  fright  in  his  eyes,  and  told 
him  what  had  happened.  Although  he  could 
see  that  Furneaux  was  in  a  fever  of  impa- 
tience to  learn  the  later  news,  he  thought  that 
Forbes  should  know  the  facts  in  view  of  the 
remarkable  statement  that  he  had  visited  the 
Chinese  Embassy  that  morning. 

In  one  respect,  the  recital  was  a  test  of  the 
millionaire's  professed  readiness  to  deal  can- 
didly with  the  police.  Theydon  was  half 
inclined  to  believe  that  the  other  was  still 
wishful  to  conceal  that  part  of  the  day's 
doings.  But  he  was  mistaken.  When  he  had 
finished  his  own  story,  and  given  the  taxi- 
man's  version  of  the  gray  car's  appearance 
in  Portland  Place,  Forbes  threw  out  his  hands 
In  a  gesture  of  despair. 


TEE  FIRST  COUNTER-STROKE    153 

"If  the  Embassy  people  are  playing  me 
false  I  do  not  know  whom  to  trust,"  he  said 
brokenly  ^  "I  have  just  come  from  there,  and 
they  assure  me  that  if  Wong  Li  Fu  and  his 
gang  are  in  London  they  are  absolutely 
ignorant  of  the  fact." 

"Pooh!"  cried  Furneaux,  snapping  a  thumb 
and  forefinger.  "Don't  worry  about  that! 
Put  yourself  in  the  position  of  the  Chinese 
Ambassador.  He  can't  even  guess  who  may 
be  the  ruler  of  China  from  one  day  to  another. 
Yesterday  it  was  an  old  woman,  today  a  dic- 
tator, tomorrow  the  mob ;  who  can  foretell  what 
shape  the  lava  erupted  from  a  volcano  will 
take?  Bet  you  a  new  hat,  Mr.  Forbes,  that  the 
minute  the  embassy  heard  of  Mrs.  Lester's 
murder  they  put  two  and  two  together  and 
kept  a  sharp  eye  on  these  mansions  and  on 
your  house.  That  gray  car  is  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  a  red  herring  accidentally 
drawn  across  the  trail.  Some  cute  Chinaman 
said  '  Hallo !  that  murdered  woman  is  the  wife 
of  Forbes 's  agent  in  Shanghai.  Now,  let's  see 
what  Forbes  is  doing,  and  who  visits  him, 
and  perhaps  we'll  learn  something.'  Want  a 
bet?" 

Forbes  could  not  help  but  recover  some  of 
his  shattered  nerve  in  view  of  the  detective's 
airy  optimism.  Still,  he  was  shaken  and 
dubious. 

"Don't  forget  that  the  Chinese  Ambassador 


154  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

has  no  knowledge  whatsoever  of  my  share  in 
the  revolution,"  he  said. 

"And  don't  forget  that  for  ways  which  are 
dark  and  tricks  which  are  vain  the  hea- 
then Chinee  is  peculiar,"  retorted  Furneaux. 
"How  can  you  be  sure  that  there  is  not  in 
the  Embassy  at  this  moment  a  full  state- 
ment of  your  payments  into  the  reformers' 
funds,  as  well  as  the  list  of  conspirators  which 
our  friend  Wong  Li  Fu  is  in  search  of?" 

"I  think  that  3uch  a  thing  is  almost  im- 
possible." 

"Is  there  anything  really  impossible?  We 
used  to  believe  that  once  a  man  was  dead 
he  could  not  be  brought  to  life  again.  A 
Frenchman  has  just  demonstrated  that  by  a 
judicious  application  of  galvanism  to  the  heart 
and  salt  water  to  the  veins  any  average  corpse 
can  be  revived." 

Evidently  Furneaux  was  enjoying  himself. 
He  sat  there,  absorbing  new  impressions  and 
irradiating  scraps  of  irrelevant  knowledge  in 
a  way  that  would  have  been  full  of  signifi- 
cance to  Winter  had  he  been  present.  Fur- 
neaux was  never  so  mercurial,  never  so  ready 
to  jump  from  one  subject  to  another,  as  when 
his  subtle  brain  was  working  at  high  pres- 
sure. 

He  actually  reveled  in  a  crime  which  lay 
on  the  borderland  of  the  exotic  and  the 
grotesque.  Like  the  French  philosopher  in 


THE  FIRST  COUNTER-STROKE    155 

Poe's  "Tales  of  Mystery  and  Imagination," 
the  savant  who  read  his  newspaper  in  a  dingy 
Paris  room,  and  solved  by  sheer  force  of 
intellect  extraordinary  criminal  problems 
which  baffled  the  shrewdest  official  minds,  he 
felt  in  relation  to  this  particular  tragedy  that 
he  required  only  to  be  brought  in  touch  with 
certain  contingent  forces  bound  up  with  it- 
Forbes,  for  instance,  and,  in  a  minor  degree, 
Theydon — and  in  due  course  he  would  be  able 
to  go  forth  and  find  the  master  wrongdoer. 

Suddenly  the  millionaire  seemed  to  cast  off 
the  cloak  of  despair  which  clogged  his  en- 
ergies and  impaired  his  brilliant  intellect. 
He  rose  to  his  feet  and  involuntarily  squared 
his  shoulders. 

"Surely  we  are  wasting  valuable  hours 
which  should  be  given  to  action,"  he  cried. 
"I  am  going  to  the  city  and  shall  arrange  for 
a  prolonged  absence  from  my  office.  Then 
I'll  hurry  home,  perfect  my  defenses,  and  defy 
these  murderous  curs.  My  wife  must  come  to 
London.  In  a  crisis  like  this  I  must  have  my 
loved  ones  under  my  own  personal  supervision. 
I  can  still  shoot  straight  and  quick,  and  woe 
betide  any  man,  white  or  yellow,  who  enters 
my  house  unbidden.  As  for  this  infernal 
symbol — ! ' ' 

He  raised  a  clenched  fist,  and  would  have 
pounded  into  fragments  the  thin  fabric  of  the 
ivory  skull  still  lying  where  he  had  placed  it 


156  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

on  the  table  had  not  Furneaux   snatched  it 
into  safety. 

1  'No,  no!"  protested  the  detective.  "I  want 
that  for  purposes  of  comparison.  Kindly  give 
me  that  typed  note,  too,  Mr.  Forbes.  It  may 
bear  finger-marks.  You  never  can  tell.  The 
cardboard  box  in  which  it  was  posted  also. 
Thank  you.  Now,  a  few  more  questions 
before  you  go.  How  much  money  did  you 
provide  for  the  revolutionaries?" 

"Two  millions  sterling." 

"As  a  gift  or  a  loan?" 

"If  they  failed,  I  lost  every  farthing,  of 
course.  If  they  succeeded,  I  was  to  recoup 
myself  by  financing  the  new  government." 

"But  I  gather  that  they  have  neither  failed 
nor  succeeded.  China  has  a  constitution,  but 
the  Presidential  election  was  conducted  on 
lines  suspiciously  akin  to  those  recently 
adopted  in  Mexico." 

"Nevertheless  negotiations  are  now  on  foot 
for  a  big  loan." 

"If  you  died,  what  would  become  of  the 
two  millions?" 

"They  would  be  lost  irretrievably." 

Furneaux  sat  back  in  his  chair. 

"That  gives  one  furiously  to  think,"  he 
said.  "The  gray  car  comes  back  into  the 
picture. ' ' 

"What  do  you  mean?" 
I  don't  know.    But  I'll  tell  you  what — the 


t  i 


THE  FIRST  COUNTER-STROKE    157 

man  who  first  spoke  of  a  Chinese  puzzle  as 
a  metaphor  for  something  downright  bewil- 
dering knew  what  he  was  talking  about." 

Forbes  put  a  hand  to  his  forehead  in  an 
unconscious  gesture  of  hopelessness. 

"My  brain  is  reeling,"  he  muttered.  "To 
think  that  in  the  London  of  today  we  ghould 
live  in  abject  terror  of  a  band  of  Mongolian 
ruffians!  Why  do  you  remain  here,  man? 
You  vaunt  the  prowess  of  your  department- 
why  are  you  not  scouring  every  haunt  of 
Chinamen  in  the  East  End?  Spread  your  net 
widely  enough,  and  you  will  surely  get  hold  of 
some  minor  scoundrel  who  will  talk  for  fear 
or  money.  Bribe  him  to  the  point  where  he 
cannot  refuse  to  speak.  Wong  Li  Fu  is  the 
only  man  I  fear.  Put  him  where  he  can  ac- 
complish no  mischief,  and  the  rest  of  his  crew 
will  be  powerless!" 

"When  you  come  to  count  up  the  achieve- 
ments of  my  friend  Winter  and  myself — in 
the  face  of  stupid  but  none  the  less  disheart- 
ening obstacles — we  have  not  done  so  badly 
in  two  days,"  said  Furneaux  complacently. 

"Can  I  drive  you  anywhere?  My  car  is 
waiting. ' ' 

"No,  thanks.  The  truth  is,  Mr.  Forbes, 
I  look  on  you  as  a  disturbing  influence.  A 
man  who  can  talk  as  calmly  as  you  about 
dropping  two  millions  on  a  crazy  project  to 
introduce  Western  methods  into  China  is  not 


158  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

fitted  for  the  phlegmatic  and  judicial  at- 
mosphere of  Scotland  Yard.  If  I  want  any 
money  I'll  come  to  you.  If  not,  and  all  goes 
well  at  No.  11  Fortescue  Square,  the  next 
time  I'll  trouble  you  will  be  when  you  are 
asked  to  identify  Wong  Li  Fu,  dead  or  alive." 

Forbes  seemed  hardly  to  be  aware  of  Fur- 
neaux's  words.  He  went  out.  Theydon  ac- 
companied him,  and,  as  they  descended  the 
stairs  together,  the  older  man  said  brokenly: 

"It  is  my  wife  and  daughter  for  whom  I 
fear.  I  can  hardly  control  my  senses  when  I 
think  of  these  yellow  fiends  contemplating 
vengeance  on  me  through  them.  Theydon — 
do  you  believe  in  that  detective?  He  is  either 
a  vain  fool  or  a  genius.  By  the  way,  I  forgot 
to  ask  him  how  he  found  out  that  I  had 
received  the  warning  delivered  by  this  morn- 
ing's post." 

"I'll  try  and  worm  an  explanation  out  of 
him.  If  he  tells  me  I'll  telephone  you  later. 
He  is  an  extraordinary  creature,  but  abnor- 
mally clever  at  his  work,  I  am  sure.  For  my 
own  part,  I  feel  disposed  to  trust  him  impli- 
citly. I  wish  you  had  met  his  colleague,  Chief 
Inspector  Winter.  He  is  the  sort  of  man 
whose  mere  presence  inspires  confidence." 

Forbes  halted  on  the  step  of  the  automobile 
and  glanced  at  his  watch. 

"I  shall  be  home  in  an  hour,"  he  said. 
"After  that  I  shall  not  stir  out  all  day. 


THE  FIRST  COUNTER-STROKE    159 

Telephone  me  if  you  have  any  news.  Why 
not  dine  with  us  tonight?" 

Theydon's  eyes  sparkled.  He  was  longing 
to  meet  Evelyn  Forbes  once  more,  but  a 
wretched  doubt  diminished  the  glow  of 
gratification  which  the  prospect  brought. 
Should  he,  or  should  he  not,  tell  the  girl's 
father  of  the  rather  indiscreet  admissions  she 
had  made  during  their  brief  talk  that  morn- 
ing? 

That  minor  worry,  however,  was  banished 
suddenly  and  forever.  Furneaux,  taking  the 
three  steps  which  led  from  entrance  hall  to 
pavement  with  a  flying  leap,  cannoned  right 
into  Forbes,  whom  he  grasped  with  both 
hands,  quite  as  much  by  way  of  emphasis  as 
to  check  the  impetus  of  his  diminutive  body. 

1 1  In  with  you !  '  he  piped.  ' '  Tell  your 
chauffeur  to  obey  my  orders,  no  matter  what 
they  are!" 

Action,  determination,  were  as  the  breath  of 
the  millionaire's  nostrils.  He  aroused  himself 
instantly. 

"You  hear,  Downs!"  he  said  to  the  chauf- 
feur. 

Downs  was  one  of  those  strange  beings  who 
have  been  evolved  by  the  age  of  petrol,  an 
automaton  compounded,  seemingly,  of  steel 
springs  and  leather.  He  had  long  ago  lost 
the  art  of  speech,  having  cultivated  delicacy 
of  hearing  and  quickness  of  sight  at  the 


160  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

expense  of  all  other  human  faculties.  The 
old-time  coachman  possessed  a  certain  fluent 
jargon,  which  enabled  him  to  chide  or  en- 
courage his  horses  and  exchange  suitable  com- 
ments with  the  drivers  of  brewers'  drays  and 
market  carts,  but  the  modern  chauffeur  is  all 
an  ear  for  the  rhythm  of  machinery,  all  an  eye 
for  the  nice  calculation  of  the  hazards  of  the 
road  fifty  yards  ahead. 

At  any  rate,  Downs  mumbled  something 
which  resembled  "Yes,  sir,"  Forbes  sprang 
in  and  slammed  the  door,  Furneaux  raced 
round  the  front  of  the  car  and  perched  him- 
self beside  Downs,  and  the  heavy  automobile 
was  almost  into  its  normal  stride  before  it 
had  traveled  twice  its  own  length. 

Theydon  was  left  gaping  on  the  pavement. 
He  saw  that  the  car  turned  west,  and  caught 
a  glimpse  of  Furneaux 's  outstretched  hand 
with  forefinger  pointing  like  the  barrel  of 
a  pistol. 

"Fool!"  he  cried,  in  bitter  self-apostrophe. 
"Why  didn't  I  jump  in  after  Forbes?  Now  I 
am  out  of  the  hunt !  I  wonder  what  the  deuce 
Furneaux  saw  or  heard!" 

That  concluding  thought  sent  him  back  to 
the  flat,  two  steps  at  a  time. 

"Bates!"  he  shouted.  "Has  Mr.  Furneaux 
used  the  telephone,  or  did  any  one  ring  up?" 

"No,  sir,"  said  Bates,  coming  hurriedly  at 
that  urgent  call.  "Fust  thing  I  knew  was  he 


THE  FIRST  COUNTER-STROKE    161 

was  tearin'  out,  an'  runnin'  downstairs  like 
mad." 

"0,  double-distilled  idiot  that  I  am!" 
growled  Theydon  again.  "Why  didn't  I  go 
with  them!" 

As  though  the  gods  heard  his  plaint  and 
meant  to  crush  him  with  their  answer,  the 
telephone  bell  sounded  at  his .  elbow.  Me- 
chanically, he  lifted  the  receiver  off  its  hook, 
and  immediately  became  aware  of  Tomlinson's 
voice,  with  some  element  of  flurry  and  dis- 
tress in  its  unctuous  accents. 

"That  you,  Mr.  Theydon?"  said  the  butler. 

"Yes." 

"Have  you  had  any  news  of  Mr.  Forbes, 
sir!" 

"Yes.    He  has  just  left  me." 

"Ah,  if  only  I  had  known,  and  had  given 
you  a  call  before  ringing  up  the  city!" 

"What  is  it!    Can  I  do  anything!" 

"It's  Miss  Evelyn,  sir." 

"Yes,  what  of  her!" 

"She's  gone,  sir." 

Theydon 's  heart  apparently  stopped  for  a 
second,  and  then  raced  madly  into  tumultuous 
action  again. 

"Gone!  Good  Lord,  man,  what  do  you 
mean!"  he  almost  groaned. 

"A  telegram  came  from  Mrs.  Forbes,  at 
Eastbourne,  saying  she  was  ill  and  wanted 
Miss  Evelyn.  I  tried  all  I  knew  to  persuade 


162  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

Miss  Evelyn  to  wait  until  she  had  spoken  to 
her  father,  but  she  wouldn't  listen — she  just 
threw  on  a  hat  and  a  wrap,  and  took  a  taxi 
to  Victoria." 

Some  membrane  or  film  of  tissue  which 
might  have  served  hitherto  to  shut  off  from 
Frank  Theydon's  cheery  temperament  any 
real  knowledge  of  the  pitfalls  which  may  be- 
set the  path  of  the  unwary  seemed  in  that 
instant  to  shrivel  as  though  it  had  been 
devoured  by  flame. 

He  knew,  how  or  why  he  could  never  tell, 
that  the  girl  had  been  drawn  into  the  plot 
which  had  already  claimed  so  many  victims 
and  sought  so  many  more.  All  doubt  vanished. 
He  spoke  and  acted  with  the  swift  certainty 
of  a  man  tackling  an  emergency  for  which 
he  had  prepared  during  a  long  period  of 
training  and  expectation. 

"Mr.  Forbes  may  arrive  at  any  moment, 
Tomlinson,"  he  said.  "Tell  his  office  people 
to  let  you  know  if  he  goes  first  to  the  city. 
When  you  hear  from  or  see  him,  say  that  I 
have  either  accompanied  or  followed  Miss 
Evelyn  to  Eastbourne.  If  I  do  not  catch  the 
same  train  I  shall  take  prompt  measures  in 
other  respects.  Got  that!" 

"Yes,  sir." 

It  was  easy  to  distinguish  the  relief  in 
Tomlinson 's  utterance,  relief  mingled,  doubt- 
less, with  astonishment  that  a  comparative 


THE  FIRST  COUNTER-STROKE    163 

stranger  should  display  such  an  authoritative 
and  prompt  interest  in  the  family  affairs. 

''That  is  all.  Write  down  my  message,  lest 
you  omit  any  part  of  it." 

Theydon  rang  off. 

"Come!"  he  said  to  Bates,  who  had  not 
retired  to  his  den,  but  was  listening,  discreet 
yet  rabbit-eared,  to  these  queer  proceedings. 
Followed  by  the  manservant,  he  darted  into 
the  sitting  room  and  did  several  things  at 
once. 

He  unlocked  a  drawer  and  took  from  it 
a  considerable  sum  of  money  which  he  kept 
there  for  emergency  journeys,  also  pocketing 
an  automatic  pistol.  Pouncing  on  an  A  B  C 
time  table,  he  looked  up  the  trains  for  East- 
bourne. A  fast  train  left  Victoria  at  1 : 25 
p.  m.  The  hour  was  now  1 : 05. 

Meanwhile  he  was  talking. 

"Bates,"  he  said,  "I  promised  Miss  Beale, 
the  lady  who  came  here  this  morning,  that 
my  sister,  Mrs.  Paxton,  would  visit  her  this 
evening,  say  about  six.  Miss  Beale  is  staying 
at  Smith's  Hotel,  Jermyn  Street.  Go  to  Mrs. 
Paxton,  and  see  her,  waiting  at  her  house  if 
she  happens  to  be  out.  Tell  everything  you 
know  about  Mrs.  Lester's  death,  and  ask  her 
to  take  care  of  Miss  Beale  this  evening.  She 
will  understand.  I'll  wire  her  at  Smith's  Hotel 
before  the  dinner  hour,  if  possible.  If  anybody 
calls  here,  I  leave  it  to  your  discretion  and 


164  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

your  wife's  whether  or  not  they  should  be  in- 
formed of  my  movements.  Mr.  Forbes  or  the 
police,  of  course,  must  be  told  everything. 
Miss  Forbes  is  probably  in  the  1 : 25  p.  m. 
train  for  Eastbourne,  and  I  am  going  with 
her.  Do  you  understand?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"I'll  wire  or  'phone  you  later." 

Grabbing  a  straw  hat  and  a  bundle  of 
telegraph  forms,  Theydon  vanished,  not  even 
waiting  to  slam  the  outer  door.  Bates,  who 
had  seen  service,  knew  that  men  in  time  of 
stress  and  danger  acted  just  like  the  de- 
tective and  his  own  employer. 

"By  Jingo!"  he  muttered,  beginning  to  as- 
semble the  empty  coffee-cups  on  a  tray. 
"Things  is  wakin'  up  here,  an'  no  mistake!" 

Theydon  was  fortunate  in  finding  a  taxicab 
depositing  a  fare  at  a  neighboring  block.  Just 
before  he  reached  the  vehicle  a  gentleman  hur- 
ried out  of  the  building  and  forestalled  him. 
Theydon  dashed  up,  and  caught  the  other  man 
by  the  arm. 

"My  need  is  urgent,"  he  said.  "Let  me 
have  this  cab." 

The  stranger  smiled  good-humoredly.  He 
was  an  American  and  had  not  the  least  objec- 
tion to  being  hustled  by  a  Britisher;  indeed 
he  rather  appreciated  this  exhibition  of  haste 
as  a  novel  experience. 

"I'm  on  a  hair-trigger  myself,"  he   said, 


THE  FIRST  COUNTER-STROKE    165 

pleasantly.  "I  want  to  make  Victoria  pretty 
quick.  Can  I  give  you  a  lift!" 

"In  with  you!"  cried  Theydon.  "Now, 
cabby,  half  a  sovereign  if  you  get  us  to  Vic- 
toria, Brighton  line,  in  15  minutes.  I'll  pay 
all  fines." 

Then  they  were  off,  and  the  Trans- Atlantic 
cousins  were  banged  against  one  another  as 
the  cab  whirled  round  in  a  sharp  semicircle. 

"Say!"  cried  the  American,  "this  reminds 
one  of  home.  I've  been  here  a  week,  an'  had 
a  kind  of  notion  that  London  air  was  half 
fog,  half  dope.  But  you're  awake  all  right. 
Bet  you  a  five  spot  you're  after  a  girl!" 

"I  pay,"  said  Theydon,  his  eyes  glistening. 
"And  such  a  girl!  Her  portrait  on  the  paper 
wrap  of  a  50-cent  novel  would  sell  it  in  mil- 
lions ! ' ' 

"Gee  whiz!  Is  it  like  that!  Go  right 
ahead,  Augustus !  Never  mind  me.  Take  this 
old  bus  all  the  way  to  Paris.  I'll  find  the  fares 
and  hold  your  hat.  But  kindly  shift  that 
gun  into  your  opposite  pocket.  You've  dug 
it  into  my  thigh  quite  often  enough.  If  you 
want  to  get  first  drop  on  the  other  fellow, 
shove  it  up  your  sleeve  1" 


CHAPTER  IX 

SHAEP    WORK 

THE  American's  easy-going  badinage  pro- 
vided the  best  sort  of  tonic.  Theydon  laughed 
as  he  transferred  the  pistol  from  one  pocket 
to  the  other. 

"My  motto  is  'Defense,  not  Defiance,'  ; 
he  said.  "I  hope  sincerely  that  I  shall  not  be 
called  on  to  shoot,  or  even  threaten  any  one. 
Using  firearms,  although  for  self -protection,  is 
a  very  serious  matter  in  this  country.  May  I 
ask  your  name?  Mine's  Theydon.  I  live  in 
those  mansions  we  have  just  quitted." 

1  'And  I'm  George  T.  Handyside,  2.1,097 
Park  Avenue,  Chicago,"  was  the  answer. 

"Is  that  your  telephone  number?" 

"No,  sir.     It's  my  home  address." 

"Well,  Mr.  Handyside,  if  ever  I  come  to 
Chicago,  I'll  travel  along  Park  Avenue  and 
give  you  a  call.  How  many  days'  journey 
are  you  from  the  center  of  the  city?" 

"Say,  Mr.  Theydon,  I'm  real  glad  to  make 
your  acquaintance.  I  haven't  been  joshed  in 
that  way  since  I  left  the  steamer.  This  little 
island  of  yours  is  all  right  as  a  beauty  spot, 
but  I  do  wish  your  people  wouldn't  carry  such 

106 


SHARP  WORK  167 

• 
a  grouch  agin'  life  generally.     Great  Scott! 

It'll  do  'em  a  heap  of  good  to  try  a  real 
chesty  laugh  occasionally." 

"Tell  me  where  I  can  drop  across  you  in 
London  later  in  the  week,  and  I'll  see  if  we 
can't  find  a  smile  somewhere." 

The  American  scribbled  the  name  of  a 
Strand  hotel  on  a  card,  which  Theydon  dis- 
posed in  his  pocketbook,  at  the  same  time 
producing  one  of  his  own  cards. 

"You'll  hear  from  me,"  he  said.  "Now, 
Mr.  Handyside,  pardon  me  for  the  next  few 
minutes.  I  have  to  write  telegrams." 

The  first  was  to  Forbes,  addressed  in 
duplicate  to  Old  Broad  Street  and  Fortescue 
Square.  It  ran: 

"If  this  message  is  not  qualified  by  another 
within  a  few  minutes  I  am  in  the  1 : 25  train 
for  Eastbourne." 

Then  to  Winter: 

"Young  lady  summoned  to  Eastbourne  by 
telegram  stating  that  her  mother  is  ill. 
Suspect  the  message  as  bogus  and  emanating 
from  Y.  M.  See  Furneaux.  He  will  explain. 
Am  hoping  to  travel  by  same  train.  If  disap- 
pointed will  wire  again  immediately. — They- 
don." 

He  read  each  slip  carefully,  to  make  sure 
that  the  phraseology  was  clear.  The  speed 
at  which  the  cab  was  traveling  rendered 
.his  handwriting  somewhat  illegible,  but  he 


168  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

thought  he  saw  a  means  of  circumventing  that 
difficulty. 

1  'Which  place  are  you  going!"  he  inquired 
of  his  unexpected  companion. 

"To  a 'place  called  Sutton." 

"What  time  does  your  train  leave?'* 

"Guess   it's   about   1:30." 

"You  have  five  more  minutes  at  your  dis- 
posal than  I  have.  Will  you  hand  in  these 
three  messages  at  the  telegraph  office?  I'll 
read  them  to  you,  in  case  the  counter  clerk 
is  doubtful  about  any  of  my  words." 

"Sure  thing,  Mr.  Theydon.  You've  in- 
terested me.  I  don't  care  a  row  of  beans  if 
I  drop  out  Sutton  altogether." 

"I'm  greatly  obliged,  but  that  is  not  nec- 
essary. You'll  have  loads  of  time.  We're  in 
the  Park  already,  and  our  driver  has  a  clear 
run  to  Victoria.  Now,  listen!" 

Mr.  Handyside  did  listen,  and  pricked  his 
ears  at  the  mention  of  Scotland  Yard. 

"Gosh!"  he  exclaimed,  "this  is  better 'n  a 
life-line  movie!  For  the  love  of  Mike,  let 
me  in  by  the  early  door!  Now,  how's  this  for 
a  proposition?  You  send  those  telegrams,  and 
I'll  fix  the  cab  an'  buy  the  transportation 
to  Eastbourne  for  the  pair  of  us.  I'm  not 
heeled,  but  I  may  be  useful,  an'  I'll  jab  any 
fellow  in  the  solar  plexus  at  call." 

Theydon  gazed  at  this  self -a  vowed  knight- 
errant  in  surprise.  Handyside  was  a  man  of 


SHARP  WORK  169 

forty,  whose  dark  hair  was  flecked  with  gray. 
He  was  quietly  dressed,  a  wide-brimmed  high- 
crowned  hat  of  finely-plaited  white  straw 
providing  the  sole  note  of  markedly  American 
origin  in  his  attire.  The  expression  of  his 
well-moulded  features  was  shrewd  but  pleas- 
ing, and  the  poise  of  a  spare  but  sinewy 
frame  gave  evidence  of  active  habit  and  some 
considerable  degree  of  physical  strength. 

"  'Pon  my  honor,"  said  the  Englishman. 
"I'm  half  inclined  to  take  you  at  your  word, 
except  in  the  matter  of  expenses,  which,  of 
course,  I  must  bear.  You  see,  if  my  services 
are  called  for,  and  prove  effective,  I  may 
need  help." 

"Go  right  ahead,"  said  the  other  calmly. 
"Tell  me  as  much  or  as  little  as  you  like. 
Where's  this  place,  Eastbourne?  On  the 
south  coast,  I  guess." 

"Yes." 

"I  thought  it  would  be.  A  man  on  the 
steamer  asked  me  to  come  and  see  him  at 
Westgate,  which  is  about  as  far  east  as  you 
can  go  in  England  without  wetting  your  feet. 
I'm-  getting  the  hang  of  things  here  by 
degrees.  Southport,  of  course,  is  away  up 
north,  and  Northamptonshire  in  the  mid- 
lands." 

Theydon  grinned,  but  the  taxi  was  passing 
Buckingham  Palace,  and  the  hour  was  1 : 17 
p.  m. 


170  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"I  cannot  give  you  any  sort  of  an  ex- 
planation now,  Mr.  Handyside,"  he  said. 
"  Later  in  the  week,  perhaps,  I  may  have  a 
big  story  for  your  private  ear.  All  I  can 
say  at  the  moment  is  this — I  have  reason  to 
believe  that  a  young  lady,  a  daughter  of  Mr. 
James  Creighton  Forbes,  a  well-known  man 
in  the  city  of  London,  is  being  decoyed  to 
Eastbourne  in  the  belief  that  her  mother  is 
ill.  Now,  I  may  be  wholly  mistaken.  Her 
mother  may  be  ill.  If  that  is  so,  I  am 
making  this  trip  under  a  delusion.  At  any 
rate,  my  notion  is  to  try  and  fall  in  with 
Miss  Forbes  accidentally,  as  it  were,  and 
watch  over  her  until  I  am  quite  sure  that 
she  is  with  her  mother.  You  follow  me?" 

"Seems  to  me,"  said  the  American  im- 
perturbably,  "  it's  the  most  natural  thing  in 
the  world  that  Mr.  Theydon  should  want  to 
show  his  friend,  Mr.  Handyside  of  Chicago, 
England's  most  bracing  and  attractive  sea- 
side resort,  if  that's  the  right  way  to  describe 
Eastbourne." 

"Both  the  plan  and  the  description  are 
admirable." 

"The  plan  sounds  all  right.  As  for  the 
description  I  have  been  looking  up  a  selection 
of  posters,  and  those  seven  words  apply  to 
every  half-mile  strip  of  beach  in  the  island. 
When  it  comes  to  a  real  show-down,  your 
poster  artists  have  got  our  real  estate  men 


SHARP  WORK  171 

skinned  a  mile.  How  much  did  you  promise 
the  taxi-man!" 

"Half  a  sovereign." 

"Two-fifty.  Gee!  That's  the  nearest 
thing  to  New  York  I've  struck  yet.  And  the 
railway  tickets — first-class,  of  course?  ' 

"Yes." 

The  cab  stopped.  Theydon  sprang  out  and 
raced  to  the  telegraph  office,  where,  as  he 
anticipated,  there  was  a  slight  delay.  Handy- 
side  awaited  him  at  the  correct  barrier,  and 
together  they  walked  down  a  long  platform, 
Theydon  peering  into  every  carriage,  though 
convinced  that  Evelyn  Forbes  would  not 
travel  other  than  first  class.  Thus,  not  being 
a  detective,  but  only  a  very  anxious  and  per- 
plexed young  man,  he  had  eyes  only  for  such 
ladies  as  were  already  seated  in  the  train, 
and  failed  to  note  the  immediate  interest  his 
appearance  aroused  in  a  man  who  occupied 
a  window  seat,  and  who  was  watching  un- 
obtrusively every  one  who  passed.  Oddly 
enough,  after  the  first  wondering  glance,  this 
observer  was  more  closely  taken  up  with 
Handyside.  It  was  as  though  he  said  to  him- 
self: 

"Theydon  I  know,  but  who  in  the  world 
is  his  companion,  and  why  are  they  traveling 
by  an  Eastbourne  express — today  of  all 
days!" 

The  train  was  well  filled;  there  were  only 


172  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

a  few  seconds  to  spare  when  Theydon  came 
across  Evelyn  Forbes  in  a  compartment 
which  held  two  other  passengers — a  lady  and 
a  gentleman. 

Recognition  was  mutual,  and  Theydon 
flattered  himself  that  he  betrayed  just  the 
right  amount  of  pleasurable  astonishment. 

"Miss  Forbes!"  he  cried,  raising  his  hat. 
' '  Well,  of  all  the  unexpected  meetings !  Don 't 
say  you  are  going  to  Eastbourne!" 

"But  I  am,"  she  said,  and,  though  she 
smiled,  her  eyes  were  heavy  with  unshed 
tears.  She  was  deeply  attached  to  her 
mother,  and  the  thought  that  the  loved  one 
was  too  ill  even  to  communicate  with  her  by 
telephone  was  distressing  beyond  measure. 

"Just  imagine  that!"  went  on  Theydon, 
determined  to  rush  his  fences  and  travel  with 
her  unless  openly  forbidden.  "I'rn  taking 
an  American  friend  there  for  the  afternoon. 
May  we  come  in  your  carriage?  Is  there 
room  for  two?" 

Now,  although  Evelyn  Forbes  had  been 
attracted  to  Theydon  during  their  vivacious 
conversation  overnight,  she  would  vastly 
have  preferred  the  comparative  solitude  of  a 
journey  with  strangers. 

Still,  she  could  hardly  refuse  such  a  re- 
quest, and  common  sense  told  her  that  a 
pleasant  chat  with  a  man  who  could  talk  as 
well  as  Theydon  offered  a  better  means  of 


SHARP  WORK  173 

whiling  away  two  and  a  half  hours  than  brood- 
ing over  the  nature  and  extent  of  her  mother's 
unknown  illness. 

"There's  plenty  of  room,"  she  said. 

Without  further  ado,  Theydon  entered  and 
Handyside  followed.  The  compartment  held 
six  seats,  while  a  door  led  to  a  side  corridor 
running  the  length  of  the  coach.  The  two 
remaining  occupants  were  worthy  Britons 
who  neither  invited  nor  received  any  special 
attention. 

Mr.  Handyside  was  introduced,  and 
promptly  said  the  right  thing. 

"I  guess  I  knew  what  I  was  doing  .when 
I  forced  Mr.  Theydon  to  take  me  out  of 
London  today,"  he  said,  with  a  smile  which 
left  the  girl  in  no  doubt  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  implied  compliment. 

"But  it  is  hardly  an  hour  since  I  spoke  to 
my  father  at  Mr.  Theydon 's  flat,"  she  said. 
"Were  you  there,  too,  Mr.  Handyside  I" 

"No,  in  the  next  block.  That  was  the 
nearest  I  got  to  Mr.  Theydon  before  we  met 
and  took  a  cab  for  Victoria." 

Theydon  was  pleased  with  his  ally.  No 
diplomat,  trained  during  long  years  to  conceal 
material  facts,  could  have  headed  the  girl  off 
more  deftly,  while  every  word  was  literally 
true. 

"Ah!"  she  said,  glancing  meaningly  at 
Theydon,  "we  are  all  the  sport  of  fortune, 


174  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

then.  How  strange!  Of  course,  Mr.  They- 
don,  you  don't  know  why  I  am  here.  I  have 
had  a  telegram  from  my  mother,  or  one  .sent 
in  her  name.  She  has  been  taken  ill  sud- 
denly." 

"That  is  bad  news,"  was  the  sympathetic 
answer.  "If  the  message  has  not  come  direct 
from  Mrs.  Forbes  may  it  not  be  rather  exag- 
gerated in  tone!  Some  people  can  never 
write  telegrams.  The  knowledge  that  each 
word  costs  a  halfpenny  weighs  on  them  like 
a  nightmare." 

As  he  hoped  and  anticipated,  she  pro- 
duced the  message  itself  from  her  hand- 
bag. 

"This  is  what  it  says,"  she  said,  and  read: 
"  'Mrs.  Forbes  ill  and  unable  communicate 
by  telephone.  Come  at  once.  Manager  Royal 
Devonshire  Hotel.'  "  Then  she  added,  with 
a  suspicious  break  in  her  voice :  ' '  That 
sounds  serious  enough,  in  all  conscience." 

"Is  it  addressed  to  you  personally?"  said 
Theydon,  racking  his  wits  for  some  means  of 
lessening  the  girl's  foreboding  without  tick- 
ling the  ears  of  the  other  people  in  the  com- 
partment by  suggesting  that  she  might  have 
been  brought  from  her  home  by  some  cruel 
ruse  of  her  father's  enemies. 

"Yes." 

"But  isn't  that  somewhat  singular  in  it- 
self? One  would  imagine  that  such  a  signifi- 


SHARP  WORK  175 

cant  message  would  have  been  sent  to  your 
father." 

"Why?" 

"Well,  men  are  better  fitted  to  withstand 
these  shocks,  for  one  thing.  It  was  heartless, 
or,  to  say  the  least,  thoughtless,  to  give  you 
such  news  with  the  brutal  frankness  of  a 
telegram. ' ' 

"I  cannot  understand  it  at  all.  Mother 
wrote  this  morning  telling  me  that  she  was 
going  to  Beachy  Head  this  afternoon  with  a 
picnic  party." 

"I  am  convinced,"  said  Theydon  gravely, 
"that  some  one  has  blundered.  It  may  be 
the  act  of  some  stupid  foreigner.  I  shall  not 
be  content  now,  Miss  Forbes,  until  I  have 
gone  with  you  to  the  Eoyal  Devonshire,  and 
learnt  what  the  extent  of  the  trouble  really 
is.  Then,  if  Mrs.  Forbes  needs  your  presence, 
perhaps  you  will  allow  me  to  telephone  to 
your  father,  as  he  will  be  greatly  disturbed 
when  he  returns  home  and  learns  the  cause 
of  your  journey." 

"But  I  can't  think  of  allowing  you  two  to 
break  up  your  afternoon  on  my  account.  I'm 
sure,  when  we  reach  Eastbourne,  I  shall  see 
an  array  of  golf  clubs  among  your  luggage." 

"No,"  smiled  Theydon.  "My  friend  here 
refuses  to  play  until  he  has  seen  something 
of  the  country.  He  knows  that  the  golfer's 
vision  is  bounded  by  the  nearest  bunker." 


176  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

Handyside  took  the  cue. 

"That's  the  exact  position,  Miss  Forbes," 
he  said.  "I  was  warned  by  the  horrible  ex- 
perience of  a  friend  of  mine.  He  left  New- 
ark, N.  J.,  on  a  sightseeing  tour  of  Europe, 
but  unfortunately  took  his  clubs  with  him. 
Now,  if  you  ask  him  what  he  thought  of 
Westminster  Abbey  or  the  Wye  Valley  he 
tells  you  he  hadn't  time  to  look  'em  up,  but 
that  the  fifth  hole  at  Sandwich  is  a  corker, 
while  the  thirteenth  at  St.  Andrews  has  been 
known  to  restore  the  faculty  of  speech  to  a 
dumb  man.  You  see,  some  poor  mute  had 
either  to  express  his  feelings  or  bust." 

Evidently  Miss  Evelyn  Forbes  would  not 
be  allowed  to  mope  during  the  run  to  East- 
bourne. 

As  between  Theydon  and  herself,  the  situa- 
tion was  curiously  mixed.  On  the  one  hand, 
Theydon  had  now  a  remarkably  close  insight 
into  the  peril  which  threatened  Forbes  and 
each  member  of  his  family;  the  girl,  on  the 
other,  knew  well  that  her  father  was  bound 
up  in  some  way  with  the  tragedy  at  No.  17 
Innesmore  Mansions. 

Nevertheless,  an  open  discussion  was  out 
of  the  question,  and  the  two  accepted  cheer- 
fully the  limitations  imposed  by  circum- 
stances, so  that  the  strangers  in  the  com- 
partment little  suspected  what  grave  issues 
lay  behind  an  apparently  casual  meeting  be- 


SHARP  WORK  177 

tween  a  pretty  girl  and  two  men  that  sum- 
mer's afternoon  in  the  Eastbourne  express. 

The  American  played  his  part  admirably. 
When  not  passing  some  caustically  humorous 
comment  on  British  ways  and  manners  he 
was  being  even  more  critical  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen. 

As  he  himself  put  it,  he  guessed  New  York 
society  was  mighty  like  London  society  with 
the  head  cut  off,  and  proved  his  conten- 
tion with  many  wise  saws  and  modern  in- 
stances. 

Thus  the  journey  south  passed  pleasantly 
enough.  When  they  alighted  the  girl  reverted 
to  the  topic  uppermost  in  her  mind. 

"You  gentlemen  will  have  to  look  after 
your  luggage,"  she  said.  "I'm  sure  you  will 
forgive  me  if  I  hurry  to  the  hotel.  If  you 
come  there,  Mr.  Theydon,  I'll  take  care  that 
I  see  you  at  once.  It  is  exceedingly  kind  of 
you  to  bother  with  my  affairs." 

But  Theydon  had  a  scheme  ready,  having 
foreseen  this  very  difficulty. 

"Mr.  Handyside  will  attend  to  everything," 
he  said  glibly.  "Please  let  me  come  with 
you.  I  shan't  have  a  moment's  peace  until 
assured  that  Mrs.  Forbes  is  suffering  from 
little  more  than  a  slight  indisposition." 

Evelyn  looked  puzzled,  but  was  willing  to 
agree  to  anything  so  long  as  she  reached  her 
mother  quickly.  Handyside,  too,  made  mat-: 


178  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

ters  easy  by  lifting  his  hat  and  walking  off  in 
the  direction  of  the  luggage  van. 

"Well,"  she  said,  "I  really  don't  care  what 
happens  if  only  I  lose  no  time." 

Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  she  hurried 
toward  the  exit,  and  was  murmuring  some- 
thing that  sounded  like  an  apology  for  her 
seeming  brusqueness  as  they  passed  the  ticket 
collector.  Here  a  momentary  difficulty  arose. 
Theydon  had  forgotten  to  ask  Handyside  for 
his  ticket.  The  girl,  of  course,  had  her  own 
ticket,  but  her  companion  was  not  allowed  to 
pass  the  barrier.  He  began  an  explanation 
to  which  a  busy  official  paid  no  heed.  In 
desperation,  he  produced  a  sovereign,  and 
his  card. 

"Here,"  he  said,  "you  can  hold  this  as 
a  guarantee  that  my  ticket  will  be  given  up. 
This  lady  has  been  called  to  the  bedside  of 
her  mother,  who  is  said  to  be  dangerously 
ill,  and  I  simply  must  be  allowed  to  take  her 
to  the  Royal  Devonshire  Hotel." 

Luckily,  the  railwayman  had  the  wit  to  see 
that  this  earnest-eyed  passenger  was  speaking 
the  truth. 

"That's  all  right,  sir,"  he  said.  "We 
have  to  be  very  particular  about  tickets,  you 
know. ' ' 

Evelyn  Forbes  was  a  few  yards  in  advance, 
and  impatiently  awaiting  her  escort,  when  a 
gentleman  approached  and  spoke  to  her, 


SHARP  WORK  179 

"Miss  Forbes,  I  believe,"  he  said,  raising 
his  hat. 

"Yes,"  she  answered  breathlessly,  because 
the  man's  garb  suggested,  before  he  uttered 
another  syllable,  that  he  was  a  doctor.  He 
had  a  curiously  foreign  aspect,  and  spoke 
with  a  pronounced  lisp. 

"I  am  assistant  to  Dr.  Sinnett,"  he  said, 
"and  he  has  sent  me  to  take  you  to  the  hotel. 
This  is  his  car.  Will  you  come,  quick?" 

He  pointed  to  a  smart  limousine  drawn  up 
near  the  exit,  and,  in  his  eagerness  to  be 
polite,  almost  pushed  the  girl  toward  the 
open  door.  Insensibly,  she  resisted,  and 
turned  to  explain  matters  to  Theydon,  who 
had  just  placated  the  Cerberus  at  the  gate, 
and  was  running  after  her. 

"Mr.  Theydon — "  she  began. 

"There  ith  no  time  to  wathe,  I  athure 
you,"  said  Dr.  Sinnett 's  assistant  imper- 
atively. At  that  instant  Theydon  came  up. 
His  temper  was  ruffled,  and  he  did  not 
scrutinize  the  doctor's  appearance  as  closely 
as  might  be  looked  for  in  one  who  was 
actually  on  his  guard  against  foul  play. 

"What  is  it  now?"  he  asked. 

"This  gentleman  has  been  sent  by  Dr. 
Sinnett  to  take  me  to  the  hotel,"  said  Evelyn. 
"Now,  Mr.  Theydon,  perhaps  it  will  be  better 
that  you  wait  for  Mr.  Handyside  and  come 
on  at  your  leisure." 


180  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"I'm  a  stiff-necked  person,"  said  Theydon, 
trying  to  smile  unconcernedly.  "I've  made 
up  my  mind  to  see  you  safely  to  your  destina- 
tion, and  I  refuse  to  leave  you  on  any  ac- 
count. I  am  sure  the  doctor  will  let  me  sit 
beside  the  chauffeur." 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  he  glanced  at  the 
newcomer,  and  was  almost  stupefied  to  dis- 
cover that  the  man,  despite  his  faultless  pro- 
fessional attire,  was  a  Chinaman.  Moreover, 
this  Chinaman  bore  a  livid  scar  down  the 
left  side  of  his  face,  and  his  eyes  were  set 
horizontally,  a  sure  sign  of  Manchu  descent, 
because  all  Southern  Chinese  have  the  oblique 
Mongolian  eye.  Though  prepared  for  treach- 
ery of  some  kind,  the  very  simplicity  of  this 
scheme  almost  disconcerted  him,  and  he 
blurted  out  the  first  words  that  rose  to  his 
lips. 

"Is  your  name  Wong  Li  Fu?" 

Half  unconsciously,  a  hand  dropped  to  the 
pocket  containing  the  revolver.  For  answer, 
he  was  struck  a  violent  blow  in  the  throat 
and  sent  sprawling.  The  attack  was  so  sud- 
den that  he  was  nearly  unprepared  for  it — 
nearly,  not  quite,  because  a  flicker  of  baffled 
spite  in  the  dark  eyes  gave  him  the  ghost  of 
a  warning. 

It  was  fortunate  that  he  saved  himself  by 
a  slight  backward  flinching,  since  he  learnt 
subsequently  that  his  assailant  was  a  master 


SHARP  WORK  181 

of  jiu  jitsu,  and  that  vicious  blow  was  in- 
tended to  paralyze  the  nerves  which  cluster 
around  the  cricoid  cartilage.  Had  he  received 
the  punch  in  its  full  force  he  would  at  least 
have  been  disabled  for  the  remainder  of  the 
day,  while  there  was  some  chance  of  the 
injury  proving  fatal. 

The  Chinaman  instantly  seized  the  ter- 
rified girl  in  an  irresistible  grip,  and  was 
about  to  thrust  her  into  the  automobile  when 
a  big,  burly  man  flung  himself  into  the  fray 
and  collared  the  desperado  by  neck  and  arm. 

"Stop  that!"  he  said  authoritatively.  "Let 
go  that  young  lady  or  I'll  shake  the  life  out 
of  you!" 

By  this  time  Theydon  was  on  his  feet 
again,  and  rushing  to  the  assistance  of  Chief 
Inspector  Winter,  who  seemed  to  have  mirac- 
ulously dropped  from  the  skies  at  the  right 
moment.  The  Chinaman,  seeing  that  he  was 
in  imminent  danger  of  capture,  released 
Evelyn,  wrenched  himself  free  by  another  jiu 
jitsu  trick,  swung  the  girl  into  Winter's  arms, 
thus  impeding  him,  and  leaped  into  the  car, 
which  made  off  with  a -rapidity  that  showed 
how  thoroughly  the  chauffeur  was  in  league 
with  his  principal. 

Naturally,  the  people  coming  out  from  the 
station,  reinforced  by  the  mob  of  semi-loafers 
always  in  evidence  in  such  localities,  gathered 
in  scores  around  Evelyn  Forbes  and  her  two 


182  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

protectors.  Such  an  extraordinary  scuffle  was 
bound  to  attract  a  crowd;  few  had  seen  the 
commencement  of  the  fray,  because  nothing 
could  be  more  usual  and  commonplace  in  a 
fashionable  place  like  Eastbourne  than  the 
sight  of  a  frock-coated  and  top-hatted  gentle- 
man handing  a  well-dressed  lady  into  a  motor 
car. 

The  first  general  intimation  of  something 
bizarre  and  sensational  was  provided  by 
Theydon 's  fall.  After  that,  events  traveled 
rapidly,  and  the  majority  of  the  onlookers 
imagined  that  it  was  Winter  who  had  knocked 
Theydon  off  his  balance,  while  the  rush  made 
by  the  latter  to  intercept  Wong  Li  Fu  was 
actually  stopped  by  a  well-intentioned  rail- 
way porter. 

Worst  of  all,  Theydon  was  quite  unable  to 
speak.  He  indulged  in  valiant  pantomime, 
and  Winter  fully  understood  that  the  China- 
man's escape  should  be  prevented  at  all 
hazards.  But  the  chief  inspector  accepted 
the  inevitable. 

The  limousine  was  equipped  with  a  power- 
ful engine,  and  the  only  vehicles  available 
for  pursuit  were  some  ancient  horse-drawn 
cabs.  He  noted  the  number  on  the  identifica- 
tion plate,  and  that  was  the  limit  of  his 
resources  for  the  moment. 

Moreover,  Evelyn  Forbes,  finding  herself 
clutched  tightly  by  a  tall,  stout  man  whom 


SHARP  WORK  183 

she  had  never  seen  before,  was  rather  more 
indignant  than  hurt. 

Disengaging  herself  from  the  detective's 
hands,  she  looked  to  Theydon  for  an  ex- 
planation. 

''Has  everybody  suddenly  gone  mad!"  she 
said  vehemently.  "What  is  the  meaning  of 
this?  Did  you  know  who  that  man  was? 
And  why  did  he  try  to  force  me  into  the 
car?" 

Theydon,  slowly  regaining  his  breath,  stam- 
mered brokenly  that  he  would  make  things 
clear  in  a  minute  or  so.  Then  he  gasped  to 
Winter : 

"That  is  Wong  Li  Fu — the  man  wanted— 
at  No.  17!" 

"We'll  get  him  all  right,"  was  the  grimly 
curt  answer.  "Meanwhile,  are  you  and  Miss 
Forbes  going  to  the  hotel?" 

Hardly  less  surprising  than  Winter's  ap- 
pearance on  the  scene  was  his  seeming  knowl- 
edge of  the  purpose  of  their  journey. 

"We  must  get  out  of  this,"  he  went  on, 
gazing  around  wrathfully  at  the  ring  of 
curious  faces.  "Here,  you!"  he  cried,  sin- 
gling out  a  policeman  who  was  forcing  a  pas- 
sage through  the  crowd,  "clear  away  this 
mob  and  get  us  a  cab!" 

The  policeman  seemed  inclined  to  resent 
the  masterful  directions,  but  a  word  whis- 
pered in  his  ear  when  he  reached  Winter 


184  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

acted  like  magic,  and  he  soon  had  the  gapers 
scattered. 

A  cab  was  called,  and  Evelyn  Forbes  was 
already  inside  when  Theydon  remembered 
the  American.  He  looked  around,  but  could 
see  nothing  of  him. 

"Where  is — Mr.  Handyside?"  he  said,  still 
finding  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  in  articulating 
his  words. 

"Is  that  the  man  who  came  with  you  from 
London?"  inquired  Winter. 

"Yes.     He's — an  American." 

"Well,  he  may  have  been  scared,  and  made 
a  bee-line  for  the  States.  He  is  not  anywhere 
in  sight." 

"0,  please,  Mr.  Theydon,  do  let  us  go  to 
the  hotel,"  pleaded  Evelyn.  She  was  pale, 
and  yielding  to  reaction  after  the  excitement 
of  the  fracas. 

Unwillingly,  since  he  was  certain  now  that 
there  was  absolutely  no  ground  for  the 
girl's  alarm  on  her  mother's  account — at  any 
rate,  so  far  as  illness  was  concerned — They- 
don entered  the  cab,  and  Winter  followed. 

"The  first  thing  to  do,"  said  the  chief  in- 
spector, when  they  were  en  route,  "is  to  as- 
sure this  young  lady,  whom  I  take  to  be  Miss 
Forbes,  that  she  has  probably  been  brought 
to  Eastbourne  by  a  lying  telegram,  and  that 
her  mother  is  quite  well  in  health.  Secondly, 
why  should  Wong  Li  Fu  be  described  as  the 


SHARP  WORK  185 

man  wanted  in  the  Innesmore  Mansions  in- 
quiry; and,  thirdly,  how  does  Mr.  Handyside 
come  into  the  picture?" 

"I  can't — talk — just  yet,"  wheezed  They- 
don  hoarsely.  "In  a  few  minutes — I'll — tell 
you  everything." 

Evelyn  had  not  realized  earlier  that  her 
self-appointed  champion  had  been  seriously 
hurt.  She  was  deeply  concerned,  and  wanted 
to  take  him  straight  to  the  nearest  doctor. 

But  he  smiled  and  essayed  to  calm  her 
fears  by  whispering  that  he  would  soon  be 
fully  recovered.  It  was  pleasant  to  know  that 
he  had  succeeded  in  rescuing  her  from  some 
indefinable  though  none  the  less  deadly  peril, 
yet  the  insistent  question  in  his  subconscious 
mind  was  not  connected  with  Evelyn's  escape, 
or  the  flight  of  her  assailant,  or  the  mysterious 
presence  of  the  chief  inspector,  but  with  the 
vanishing  of  Mr.  Handyside. 

What  had  become  of  him?  It  was  the 
maddest  of  fantasies  to  imagine  that  he  could 
be  bound  up  in  some  way  with  the  Young 
Manchus.  Yet  why  did  he  fail  to  turn  up  at 
the  station? 

Theydon  could  not  even  guess  at  a  plaus- 
ible explanation.  He  leaned  back  in  the  cab 
and  closed  his  eyes.  Really,  there  were  times 
in  life  when  it  would  be  a  relief  to  faint! 


CHAPTER  X 

CAPTURES    ON    BOTH    SIDES 

THOUGH  Theydon  was  in  first-rate  athletic 
trim,  that  blow  on  the  throat  had  nearly 
stunned  him.  The  effort  to  rise  promptly 
and  bear  a  hand  in  the  imminent  capture  of 
one  whom  he  regarded  as  something  akin  to 
a  homicidal  maniac  had  imposed  a  further 
strain  on  his  resources,  and  it  was  possible 
that  he  did  actually  lose  his  senses  during 
a  couple  of  seconds. 

In  all  likelihood,  too,  he  changed  color 
slightly,  because  the  next  thing  he  was  aware 
of  was  the  note  of  alarm  in  Evelyn's  voice 
when  she  cried  excitedly: 

"Mr.  Theydon  is  really  very  ill.  I'm  sure 
we  ought  to  try  and  revive  him." 

At  that  he  reopened  his  eyes  and  looked 
at  her  whimsically.  Nature,  in  fact,  had  put 
forth  a  supreme  effort;  from  that  moment 
he  recovered  rapidly. 

Winter  took  a  calmly  professional  view  of 
the  younger  man's  collapse. 

"There's  nothing  to  worry  about,  Miss 
Forbes,"  he  assured  the  agitated  girl.  "Our 
friend  has  just  escaped  being  knocked  in- 

186 


CAPTURES  ON  BOTH  SIDES       187 

sensible,  if  not  killed.  He  was  hardly  pre- 
pared for  such  a  vicious  attack,  I  fancy. 
Most  certainly  that  scoundrel  took  me  by  sur- 
prise, or  he  would  not  have  slipped  through 
my  fingers  like  an  eel.  Next  time,  either  Mr. 
Theydon  or  I  may  be  trusted  to  balance  mat- 
ters." 

Theydon  grinned  and  nodded.  He  signaled 
with  his  eyes  that  Winter  was  to  make 
Evelyn  Forbes  understand  that  she  had  just 
escaped  being  the  victim  of  an  extraordinary 
outrage.  Muddled  as  his  thoughts  were,  he 
grasped  the  essential  fact  that  Scotland  Yard 
was  better  posted  in  the  secret  history  of 
the  Innesmore  Mansions  crime  than  he  had 
given  the  department  credit  for  before  the 
dramatic  meeting  with  Furneaux  that  morn- 
ing. 

And,  indeed,  the  chief  inspector  lost  no 
time  in  justifying  that  belief. 

"You  must  have  imagined  that  the  world 
had  suddenly  turned  topsy-turvy,"  he  said, 
smiling  at  the  mystified  and  distraught 
Evelyn,  as  though  the  whirl  of  events  outside 
the  station  were  part  and  parcel  of  the  hum- 
drum routine  of  life.  "When  Mr.  Theydon 
regains  his  speech  Jie  will  tell  us  how  he 
came  to  suspect  that  an  attempt  would  be 
made  to  kidnap  you  today.  In  my  own  case, 
intervention  was  the  outcome  of  sheer  and 
simple  logical  deduction.  You  see,  I  repre- 


188  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

sent  the  Criminal  Investigation  Department— 
or  Scotland  Yard,  as  it  is  familiarly  described 
— and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  your  father 
is,  and  has  been  for  some  time,  the  object  of 
unpleasant  attentions  by  a  political  society  in 
China,  whose  members  are  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  criminal  fanatics.  Probably  this  is 
the  first  you  have  heard  of  the  matter,  Miss 
Forbes.  Your  father  would  wish,  no  doubt,  to 
keep  any  such  disquieting  knowledge  from  you 
and  your  mother.  But  the  policy  of  conceal- 
ment must  cease  now.  Today's  daring  attack 
is  a  warning.  Other  efforts  may  be  forth- 
coming. If  you  are  to  be  protected  efficiently 
the  police  must  have  your  loyal  cooperation. 
I  admit  candidly  that  I  myself,  with  all 
my  experience,  was  taken  off  my  guard  a 
few  minutes  ago.  If  Mr.  Theydon  had  not 
delayed  that  Chinaman — whose  name  he  has 
got  hold  of  from  Mr.  Forbes,  I  expect — I 
don't  think  I  could  have  reached  you  in 
time." 

"Is  that  the  meaning  of  the  little  ivory 
skull  which  my  father  received  at  breakfast 
this  morning?"  said  Evelyn,  breathlessly. 

Winter's  eyes  twinkled.  No  question  could 
have  thrown  a  more  vivid  light  into  the 
somber  depths  of  a  crime  which  promised  to 
transcend  in  interest  and  importance  any 
similar  occurrence  in  Great  Britain  during 
the  previous  decade. 


"Doubtless,"  he  said.  "Of  course,  I  have 
not  yet  seen  Mr.  Forbes,  but  we  have  a  mine 
of  information  here,"  and  he  laid  a  friendly 
hand  on  Theydon 's  arm.  "So  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  I  have  had  your  house  unobtru- 
sively watched — for  the  protection  of  the  in- 
mates, I  hope  you  understand — and  I  ar- 
ranged also  that  anything  unusual  in  the 
shape  of  telegrams  or  telephonic  messages" — 
here  he  glanced  amusedly  at  Theydon—- 
"should  be  communicated  to  the  Yard.  I 
heard,  therefore,  of  Mrs.  Forbes 's  sudden 
illness  almost  as  soon  as  you  did,  and  I 
traveled  with  you  to  Eastbourne,  intending 
to  reach  the  hotel  at  the  same  time  as  you, 
and  ascertain  whether  or  not  your  mother 
was  really  ill.  I  saw  you  on  the  platform  at 
Victoria  and  guessed  your  identity.  But,  in 
my  profession,  we  never  take  anything  for 
granted,  so  I  left  that  matter  until  I  could 
interview  the  hotel  manager.  And  here  we 
are.  I  advise  you  not  to  say  a  word  about 
Mrs.  Forbes  being  ill.  If,  as  I  firmly  believe, 
you  find  that  she  is  in  the  best  of  health,  you 
can  explain  your  sudden  visit  by  saying  that 
Mr.  Theydon  and  I  have  something  of  impor- 
tance to  communicate,  which  will  be  perfectly 
accurate,  as  I  mean  to  urge  strongly  that  we 
all  return  to  London  by  the  next  train." 

The  cab  stopped.     To  show  that  "Richard 
was    himself    again"    Theydon,    nearest    the 


190  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

door,  opened  it,  got  out,  and  helped  Evelyn 
to  alight. 

Reassured  on  his  account,  the  girl  smiled, 
and  a  wave  of  color  leaped  to  her  cheeks. 
Any  one  happening  to  watch  their  arrival 
would  put  them  down  as  ordinary  visitors. 
Evelyn  Forbes  was  just  a  charming  young 
woman,  plainly  but  expensively  dressed; 
Theydon  an  attentive  cavalier,  and  Winter  a 
prosperous  city  man,  probably  with  a  taste 
for  coursing  and  pheasant  shooting. 

Subtly  observant,  indeed,  would  be  the 
theorist  who  gathered  from  their  demeanor 
that  they  had  just  emerged  practically  un- 
scathed from  a  situation  rife  with  the  ele- 
ments of  tragedy. 

Nevertheless,  Winter  kept  a  sharp  eye  on 
Theydon  after  Evelyn  Forbes  had  run  up 
the  steps  of  the  hotel,  and  was  relieved  at 
seeing  that  he  could  walk  without  assistance. 

"Keep  nothing  back,"  he  said  under  his 
breath  as  they  followed  the  girl  with  sedater 
pace.  "These  women  must  be  frightened  into 
complete  obedience.  Did  Furneaux  get  hold 
of  Forbes?" 

Theydon  nodded. 

"That's  right.  Don't  talk.  I  can  pretty 
well  guess  what  took  place.  But,  look  here. 
Who's  Handyside — a  mere  acquaintance?" 

Another  nod. 

"You  just  contrived  to  pick  him  up,  and 


CAPTURES  ON  BOTH  SIDES       191 

used  him  as  an  excuse  for  coming  to  East- 
bourne? I  see.  That  removes  a  troublesome 
pawn  off  the  chessboard." 

"But  it  doesn't,"  wheezed  Theydon.  "He 
ought  to  be  here.  Can't  make  out — what  has 
become  of  him." 

"He  will  turn  up — an  American,  isn't  he? 
I  thought  so.  The  indications  were  slight  but 
certain — features,  walk,  figure.  You  can  buy 
clothes,  but  the  genuine  citizen  of  God's  own 
country  is  as  distinct  a  type  as  a  Highlander 
— all  wool  and  a  yard  wide." 

Inside  the  hotel  they  came  on  Evelyn 
Forbes  talking  to  the  manager.  She  hailed 
them  at  once. 

"Mother  has  gone  to  Beachy  Head,"  she 
cried.  "She  and  her  friends  are  expected 
home  about  six  o'clock.  Shall  we  have  some 
tea?  There  is  no  use  in  following  her.  She 
will  be  starting  back  before  we  could  get 
there." 

"Mrs.  Forbes  is  quite  well,  I  hope?"  put 
in  Winter,  casually. 

"Yes,  sir,  in  the  best  of  health,"  said  the 
manager,  indicating,  with  a  flourish  of  both 
hands,  that  nothing  else  was  to  be  expected 
as  to  the  condition  of  any  among  the  nu- 
merous patrons  of  the  Royal  Devonshire 
Hotel. 

Evelyn  asked  that  tea  should  be  served 
in  her  mother's  sitting  room.  When  they 


192  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

were  screened  by  the  closed  door  Winter 
examined  Theydon's  throat.  Beyond  a  slight 
swelling  and  external  soreness,  the  cricoid 
cartilage — known  to  the  multitude  as  Adam's 
apple — was  seemingly  uninjured,  while  They- 
don  himself  now  made  light  of  the  blow, 
though  a  certain  hoarseness  was  perceptible 
in  his  voice,  and  he  deemed  it  advisable  to 
speak  in  a  low-pitched  tone. 

Evelyn  Forbes  listened  with  ill-repressed 
bewilderment  while  he  related  the  day's 
doings.  At  first,  she  hardly  grasped  the 
significance  of  the  story,  but  Winter's  oc- 
casional questions  and  comments,  and  a 
parenthetical  sentence  or  two  introduced  by 
Theydon  for  her  benefit,  quickly  revealed  the 
astounding  nature  of  the  plot  of  which  her 
father  was  the  chief  object. 

At  this  crisis  she  displayed  a  self-control 
and  reticence  which  were  admirable.  She 
seemed  to  realize  intuitively  that  any  gaps 
in  the  recital  could  be  filled  in  later,  whereas 
it  was  all-important  that  the  detective  should 
be  made  acquainted  as  speedily  as  possible 
with  the  developments  brought  about  by  the 
morning's  fuller  disclosures. 

As  for  Winter,  he  was  keenly  interested 
in  Furneaux's  behavior  at  the  moment  of 
Forbes 's  departure  from  Innesmore  Mansions. 
Glancing  at  his  watch,  he  rose  when  They- 
don's revelations  came  to  an  end. 


CAPTURES  ON  BOTH  SIDES       193 

"I'll  just  go  and  ring  up  the  Yard,"  he 
said.  "  There  may  be  news.  When  Furneaux 
starts  off  in  full  cry  it  is  a  wary  fox  that 
escapes  him.  I  only  wish  you  and  I  had  trav- 
eled from  Victoria  in  company,  Mr.  They- 
don;  Wong  Li  Fu  would  now  have  been  in 
custody.  However,  we'll  get  him.  If,  as  I 
imagine,  he  is  making  for  London  in  that 
car,  there  is  even  a  chance  of  intercepting 
him  in  the  suburbs.  I'll  see  to  it." 

Left  alone  with  Evelyn  Forbes,  Theydon 
suddenly  grew  tongue-tied.  This  man  who 
could  invent  all  manner  of  glib  conversation 
for  the  characters  in  his  novels  now  cudgeled 
his  brains  vainly  for  something  to  say  that 
would  dwell  in  her  memory  when  they  parted. 
And  he  knew  why  a  cloud  was  thus  effectually 
befogging  his  wits.  He  had  only  seen  Evelyn 
three  times  in  as  many  days,  had  spoken  to 
her  but  twice,  yet  was  hopelessly  and  ir- 
revocably in  love  with  her. 

He,  who  had  so  often  and  so  thrillingly 
described  the  grand  passion  of  a  man's  life, 
had  now  fallen  a  victim  to  it,  only  to  feel 
how  unutterably  ridiculous  and  impossible 
was  the  wild  longing  that  had  sprung  up  in 
his  heart.  Here,  by  his  side,  wistfully  sym- 
pathetic and  friendly  in  manner,  sat  the  "one 
woman  in  the  world,"  yet  he  felt  awkward 
and  constrained,  and  took  refuge  in  a  vague 
expression  of  anxiety  on  behalf  of  Handy- 


194  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

side,  a  man  who  at  least  might  be  trusted 
to  extricate  himself  safely  from  the  labyrinth 
of  Eastbourne! 

The  girl,  of  course,  attributed  these  dis- 
jointed remarks  to  physical  suffering.  In 
reality,  he  was  contrasting  her  wealth  and 
his  own  comparative  poverty,  and  bidding 
himself  fiercely  not  to  be  a  vain  fool! 

"Don't  you  think  you  ought  to  call  in  a 
doctor?"  she  inquired,  tenderly. 

"No,  no,"  he  hastened  to  assure  her.  "The 
effects  of  the  blow  are  passing  rapidly.  In 
another  hour  I  shall  hardly  feel  it  at  all. 
I'm  afraid,  Miss  Forbes,"  he  ventured  to 
add,  "that  when  this  pfratical  gang  is  broken 
up,  as  certainly  will  be  the  case  now  that 
the  English  police  are  tackling  it,  you  will  as- 
sociate our  brief  acquaintance  with  the  only 
dark  days  in  your  existence." 

"Why  do  you  say  that?"  she  demanded. 

"Because  I  am  bound  to  admit  that  if  I 
had  not  dined  at  your  house  on  Monday 
evening,  many,  if  not  all,  of  the  amazing 
events  of  the  past  thirty-six  hours  could  not 
have  happened." 

"I  don't  agree  with  you — not  one  little 
bit,"  she  protested  emphatically.  "Why,  the 
detective-man  himself  said  that  the  Young 
Manchus  have  been  searching  ever  since  the 
beginning  of  the  year  for  proof  of  Dad's 


CAPTURES  ON  BOTH  SIDES        195 

connection  with  the  revolutionaries,  and  he 
was  candid  enough  to  tell  us  that  if  it  hadn't 
been  for  you  that  horrid  Wong  Li  Fu  would 
have  got  me  into  the  car.  No,  Mr.  Theydon, 
our  meeting  has  proved  most  fortunate  for 
me.  Suppose  I  had  really  been  captured! 
Would  he  have  gagged  me  and  taken  me  away 
to  some  lonely  place,  where  I  would  be  kept  a 
prisoner,  or  even  killed?" 

Theydon  had  no  desire  that  her  mind 
should  dwell  on  such  a  harrowing  topic.  He 
shuddered  to  think  of  her  fate  if  ever  she 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  miscreants  who  had 
not  scrupled  to  murder  Mrs.  Lester.  She 
evidently  regarded  the  crime  in  No.  17  In- 
nesmore  Mansions  as  the  sequel  to  some 
political  disturbance  in  far-off  Shanghai.  It 
had  not  occurred  to  her  that  a  hapless  woman 
had  been  done  to  death  merely  as  a  warning 
to  her  father  of  the  fate  in  store  for  him  and 
his  if  he  did  not  yield  to  the  demand  of  the 
reactionary  party  in  China,  and  deliver  over 
to  their  vengeance  some  hundreds  of  the  lead- 
ing men  in  that  distressed  country. 

"I  doubt  whether  Wong  Li  Fu  and  his  as- 
sociates would  have  dared  to  offer  you  any 
real  violence,"  he  said.  "At  the  worst,  I 
suppose,  they  might  have  retained  you  as 
a  hostage." 

"A  hostage  for  what?" 

"For  their  claim  against  Mr.  Forbes." 


196  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"But  what  has  he  done?  He  has  never 
been  in  China." 

"He  is  a  power  in  the  financial  world.  If 
the  reform  party  cannot  borrow  money  the 
movement  will  collapse.  At  any  rate  that  is 
what  the  Manchus  believe,  and  they  will 
strain  every  nerve  to  effect  their  purpose." 

"But  why  did  they  kill  poor  Mrs.  Lester?" 

Theydon  felt  that  he  was  getting  into  deep 
water.  This  clear-sighted  girl  would  soon 
have  the  various  threads  of  the  enigma  in 
her  hands,  and  then  she  could  not  fail  but 
discover  the  true  meaning  of  Edith  Lester's 
death. 

"That  phase  of  the  problem  has  yet  to 
be  solved,"  was  his  noncommittal  reply. 

Winter  rejoined  them  somewhat  hurriedly. 
He  looked  puzzled  and  rather  irritated. 

"Furneaux  has  made  an  arrest,"  he  said. 
"A  Chinaman,  described  as  Len  Shi,  is 
lodged  in  the  cells  at  Bow  Street,  on  a  charge 
of  being  concerned  in  the  Innesmore  Man- 
sions murder.  Furneaux  is  out,  and  that  is 
all  they  know  at  the  Yard.  What  I  cannot 
understand  is  why  no  inquiry  has  been  made 
by  telephone  or  otherwise  concerning  Miss 
Forbes 's  flight  to  Eastbourne." 

The  words  had  hardly  left  his  mouth  when 
the  bell  of  a  telephone  on  the  table  jangled. 
The  coincidence  was  so  peculiar  that  Winter 
laughed. 


CAPTURES  ON  BOTH  SIDES       197 

"Some  other  person  shares  my  opinion, 
I  fancy,"  he  said.  "May  I  answer,  Miss 
Forbes?" 

"Please  do,"  said  the  girl,  and  the  chief 
inspector  lifted  the  receiver  from  its  hook. 

'  *  Trunk  call  from  London ;  you  're  through, ' ? 
announced  the  hotel  operator.  After  a  slight 
pause,  an  agitated  voice  said:  "Is  that  you, 
Evelyn?" 

"Miss  Forbes  is  here,"  said  Winter.  "Who 
is  speaking?" 

"Her  father,"  was  the  reply. 

"Oh,  I'm  Chief  Inspector  Winter  of  Scot- 
land Yard.  Your  daughter  is  quite  safe,  Mr. 
Forbes.  Mr.  Theydon  and  I  accompanied 
her  from  London.  She  will  speak  to  you  in 
an  instant.  Would  you  mind  telling  me  what 
happened  at  one  o'clock,  when  my  colleague, 
Mr.  Furneaux,  jumped  on  to  your  car  and 
went  in  pursuit  of  some  one?" 

"First,  is  Mrs.  Forbes  there,  too?" 

"She  is  out  with  a  picnic  party  on  Beachy 
Head.  We  expect  her  back  before  six  o'clock. 
I  propose  bringing  her  and  Miss  Forbes  to 
London  tonight.  They  will  be  safer  in  your 
house  than  in  Eastbourne,  as  you  will  proba- 
bly agree  when  you  hear  what  a  narrow 
escape  your  daughter  had  this  afternoon  from 
being  kidnaped  by  Wong  Li  Fu." 

"Great  Heavens!  Evelyn  in  danger  from 
that  scoundrel!" 


198  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"Yes.  But  all  is  well,  believe  me.  Owing 
to  Mr.  Theydon's  promptitude  and  pertinac- 
ity, Wong  Li  Fu's  scheme  was  defeated. 
Your  daughter  will  make  everything  clear. 
Give  me  the  barest  summary  of  events  after 
your  departure  from  Innesmore  Mansions,  and 
I'll  get  out  of  the  way." 

"We  pursued  a  car  which  led  us  a  pretty 
dance  nearly  as  far  as  St.  Albans.  It  seems 
that  Mr.  Furneaux,  looking  out  of  the  window 
of  Mr.  Theydon's  flat  while  Theydon  and  I 
were  going  downstairs,  saw  a  Chinaman 
watching  us  from  a  closed  car  standing  in 
the  cross  street  at  the  end  of  the  garden.  He 
gave  chase  instantly,  but  as  soon  as  the  man 
realized  that  he  had  attracted  notice  he  tried 
to  escape.  At  least,  that  was  Mr.  Furneaux's 
first  impression.  Later,  he  convinced  himself 
that  the  supposed  spy  was  little  more  than  a 
red  herring  drawn  across  the  trail,  and  that 
the  man's  real  motive  was  to  take  me  out 
of  London,  or  waylay  or  detain  me  in  some 
fashion,  since  it  was  manifestly  impossible 
that  my  presence  in  the  Mansions  should  be 
known  to  any  one.  I  see  now,  of  course, 
what  the  project  was.  If,  as  I  gather  from 
you,  an  attempt  was  to  be  made  to  capture 
my  daughter  on  arriving  at  Eastbourne,  it 
was  all-important  for  the  conspirators  that 
I  should  not  know  of  her  absence  from  home 
until  after  the  arrival  of  the  train,  so  that 


CAPTURES  ON  BOTH  SIDES       199 

I  could  not  communicate  with  the  hotel  and 
take  measures  to  protect  her.  But  that  ex- 
planation was  hidden  from  Mr.  Furneaux,  and 
the  first  glimpse  of  it  vouchsafed  to  me  was 
when  I  reached  my  office  and  was  horrified  to 
learn  that  she  had  gone  away  without  my 
knowledge.  However,  in  a  desperate  matter 
like  this,  I  must  not  waste  time  by  describing 
my  agony  and  foreboding.  As  I  have  said,  by 
some  phenomenal  method  of  reasoning  beyond 
my  comprehension,  Mr.  Furneaux  did  arrive 
at  a  sound  conclusion.  I  suppose  he  was  alive 
to  the  ridiculous  aimlessness  of  the  race  across 
country.  My  car  is  powerful  and  speedy,  but 
the  Chinaman  had  a  thoroughly  up-to-date  con- 
veyance, too,  and  drove  without  paying  the 
least  heed  to  traffic  conditions.'7 
" There  was  only  one  man,  then?" 
"Yes.  Didn't  I  make  that  clear?  Perhaps 
not.  But  there  can  hardly  be  any  doubt 
that  this  fellow  was  alone,  and  acting  as  a 
sort  of  scout  or  vedette.  We  had  the  utmost 
difficulty  in  following  him  along  Oxford 
Street,  and  I  am  sure  that  my  chauffeur  has 
been  reported  by  a  score  of  constables  on 
point  duty  for  exceeding  the  speed  limit  and 
disregarding  signals  to  halt.  To  come  to  the 
material  facts,  the  chase  took  us  up  the  Edg- 
ware  road.  We  tore  along  at  a  tremendous 
rate  after  passing  the  Welsh  Harp.  Over- 
haul the  fellow  we  could  not,  until  on  the 


200  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

outskirts  of  St.  Albans,  when  he  deliberately 
slowed  up,  as  though  to  allow  us  to  pass. 
Mr.  Furneaux  flew  at  him  like  a  terrier 
grappling  a  rat,  but  the  man  made  no  re- 
sistance. He  is  undoubtedly  a  Chinaman, 
though  attired  in  a  chauffeur's  livery,  and 
he  could  handle  a  car  in  first-rate  style,  too. 
His  pidgin  English  was  difficult  to  understand, 
and  Mr.  Furneaux  shared  my  view  that  he 
did  not  try  to  render  himself  intelligible. 
We  gathered  that  he  was  obeying  his 
master's  orders  in  trying  the  car,  a  new  one, 
before  purchase,  but  Furneaux  bundled  him 
off  to  the  nearest  police  station,  borrowed 
handcuffs  and  brought  him  back  to  London, 
leaving  the  car  in  a  garage  at  St.  Albans. 
That  is  a  bald  but  accurate  summary  of  the 
facts.  I  dropped  Mr.  Furneaux  and  his 
prisoner  at  Bow  Street  and  was  on  the  way 
to  my  city  office,  when  I  suddenly  felt  faint 
for  want  of  food,  as  I  ate  hardly  any 
breakfast  this  morning,  and  only  drank  a 
cup  of  coffee  in  Mr.  Theydon's  place. 
So  I  returned  to  the  Carlton,  where  I 
met  a  friend,  a  business  associate,  who  re- 
mained for  a  chat  while  I  had  a  meal.  This 
trivial  accident  prevented  me  from  tele- 
phoning to  my  house,  though,  naturally,  I 
had  no  misgivings  as  to  my  daughter's  well- 
being.  Even  then  I  was  detained  unduly, 
because  my  friend  and  I  went  to  another 


CAPTURES  ON  BOTH  SIDES       201 

office  in  the  city,  and  two  more  hours  elapsed 
before  I  reached  my  own  place.  Then,  and 
not  until  then,  did  I  hear  of  Evelyn's  journey 
and  its  cause." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Forbes,"  said  Winter 
quietly.  "We  seem  to  have  made  a  forward 
move  today.  Before  calling  Miss  Evelyn  to 
the  phone  I  want  to  tell  you  that  in  disobey- 
ing your  orders  to  remain  at  home  she  did 
my  department  a  good  turn.  Wong  Li  Fu 
and  I  were  brought  face  to  face.  He  is  not 
a  myth." 

"My  word  might  be  regarded  as  sufficient 
proof  of  that  fact." 

"Certainly,  Mr.  Forbes,  if  given  earlier," 
was  the  inevitable  retort.  "But  here  is  your 
daughter.  She  can  plead  her  cause  far  better 
than  I." 

Evelyn  took  the  woman's  way.  To  defend 
she  attacked. 

"Dad,  dear,"  she  complained,  "why  didn't 
you  give  me  your  confidence?  If  I  had  had 
the  least  notion  of  the  dreadful  things  that 
were  going  on  I  should  certainly  have  tele- 
phoned to  Eastbourne  before  starting.  But 
don't  you  see  the  diabolical  cleverness  of  the 
scheme?  The  telegram  arrived  just  in  time 
to  allow  me  to  catch  the  1 : 25  p.  m.  train, 
and  rendering  it  idle  to  think  of  making  a 
trunk  call  if  I  would  obey  an  urgent  message 
from  my  mother.  Then  again,  when  I  reached 


202  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

Eastbourne,  why  should  I  suspect  a  foreign- 
looking  gentleman  who  said  Dr.  Sinnett  had 
sent  his  car  to  take  me  to  the  hotel?  There 
isn't  a  Dr.  Sinnett  in  Eastbourne  at  this  date, 
but  how  was  I  to  know  that?  Of  course,  both 
you  and  I  have  suffered  a  good  deal,  each  in  a 
different  way,  but  all  is  well  that  ends  well, 
and  I  shall  have  such  a  lot  to  tell  you  when 
we  meet  tonight.  .  .  .  What  time?  I  don't 
know  yet.  I'll  wire  or  phone  when  mother 
returns  and  we  settle  about  the  train.  Goodby, 
darling!  See  you  don't  go  anywhere  alone 
until  I  come  back." 

For  some  reason  Winter's  manner  was  not 
so  placid  as  usual.  He  looked  so  obviously 
perplexed  and  troubled  that  Theydon,  search- 
ing for  a  cause,  suddenly  remembered  that 
the  chief  inspector  was  a  great  smoker. 

" Won't  you  have  a  cigar?"  he  said;  "that 
is,  unless  Miss  Forbes  has  any  objection?" 

"Me!"  cried  the  girl.  "I  don't  object  in 
the  least." 

But  the  Royal  Devonshire  Hotel's  best 
Havana  did  not  wholly  banish  the  frown  from 
Winter's  forehead.  More  than  once  he 
glanced  at  his  watch  and  consulted  a  time 
table.  At  last  he  voiced  one  of  his  anx- 
ieties. 

"What  can  have  become  of  that  Amer- 
ican?" he  said.  "He  knew  what  hotel  you 
were  making  for?" 


CAPTURES  ON  BOTH  SIDES       203 

"Oh,  yes,"  cried  the  others  in  chorus. 

They  laughed.  Quite  a  cheerful  air  pos- 
sessed two  members  of  the  little  party,  at 
any  rate. 

"Perhaps  he  has  forgotten  the  name?" 
went  on  Evelyn. 

"Americans  never  forget  the  names  of 
hotels,  or  railway  stations,  or  steamers," 
said  Winter.  "The  average  Englishman  can 
tell  you  what  will  win  the  Derby,  but  the 
average  American  will  be  a  good  deal  more 
accurate  concerning  next  Saturday's  mail 
steamer.  .  .  .  So,  I  frankly  confess  it — that 
man's  prolonged  absence  supplies  a  riddle 
which  I  can't  answer.  What  do  you  say  if 
we  give  a  look  along  the  front?  He  may  be 
shy,  though  I  told  the  hall  porter  that  any 
inquirer  was  to  be  shown  up  at  once." 

No;  Mr.  Handyside  was  not  to  be  seen  on 
Eastbourne's  spacious  marine  promenade.  A 
couple  of  well-dressed  men  caught  sight  of 
Winter,  and  decided  that  they  had  instant 
and  urgent  business  elsewhere.  But  he  only 
smiled.  His  quarry  that  day  was  not  the 
swell  mobsman,  but  much  more  dangerous 
game. 

Lightning  darted  from  a  summer  sky  when 
the  picnic  party  returned  from  Beachy  Head 
in  three  cars,  but  without  Mrs.  Forbes. 

Evelyn  was  hardly  anxious  at  first.  The 
hall  porter  informed  her  who  the  occupants 


204  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

of  the  cars  were,  and  she  watched  the  lively 
and  chattering  groups  forming  on  the  pave- 
ment and  breaking  up  again  to  enter  the  hotel 
and  dress  for  dinner. 

At  last,  realizing  that  her  mother  was  not 
among  them,  she  singled  out  a  lady  whom 
she  knew,  and  asked  for  an  explanation.  The 
lady,  a  Mrs.  Montagu,  was  very  much  sur- 
prised. 

"But,  my  dear  Evelyn,"  she  said,  "didn't 
you  yourself  send  for  your  mother?" 

The  girl  blanched.  Some  premonition  of 
evil  gripped  her  very  heart. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  she  said,  and  the 
other  woman  could  not  help  noting  the  dis- 
tress in  her  voice. 

"If  you  didn't  send,  who  did?"  came  the 
immediate  response.  "We  were  just  going 
to  have  tea  when  a  gentleman,  a  stranger, 
came  and  asked  for  Mrs.  Forbes.  We  saw 
him  arrive  in  a  car  which  halted  at  the  foot 
of  the  path — nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away. 
Your  mother  answered,  and  he  said  that  you 
were  in  Eastbourne,  and  had  sent  him  to 
bring  you  to  the  hotel.  He  said  the  car 
belonged  to  a  Doctor  Somebody,  but  he  him- 
self looked  like  a  foreigner." 

A  few  others  had  gathered  around,  at- 
tracted by  Evelyn  Forbes 's  pallor  and  dis- 
tress; Winter,  too,  had  drawn  near,  and  it 
was  he  who  said: 


CAPTURES  ON  BOTH  SIDES       205 

"Did  you  see  this  stranger  who  brought 
the  message!" 

"0  yes,  plainly,"  said  Mrs.  Montagu. 

"Had  he  a  scar  down  the  left  side  of  his 
face?" 

"Yes." 

Then  Evelyn  Forbes,  for  the  first  time  in 
her  vigorous  young  life,  fainted.  Her  mother 
was  in  the  power  of  Wong  Li  Fu.  All  the 
terrors  which  imagination  had  painted  in 
her  own  behalf  were  redoubled  as  to  her 
mother's  fate.  Her  brain  reeled.  Merciful 
oblivion  came.  Theydon  and  Winter  were  just 
able  to  catch  her  before  she  fell  like  a  log. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE     BE  APPEARANCE     OF     HANDYSIDE 

CONSTERNATION  reigned  for  a  while  at  the 
entrance  to  the  Royal  Devonshire.  Men 
craned  their  necks  and  women  uttered  ner- 
vous little  shrieks.  But  Evelyn  Forbes  was 
endowed  with  a  vigorous  frame  and  a  splen- 
didly vital  spirit,  and  she  recovered  her 
senses  before  she  could  be  carried  into  the 
vestibule. 

The  fact  that  she  had  fainted,  too,  brought 
to  the  aid  of  her  waking  senses  the  innate 
horror  of  her  race  and  class  for  anything  ap- 
proaching a  "scene,"  and  she  was  almost  un- 
naturally collected  in  speech  and  demeanor 
within  a  few  seconds  after  her  eyes  had  re- 
opened. 

"Did  I  give  way  like  that!"  she  said,  with 
a  valiant  smile,  first  at  Theydon,  and  then 
at  the  ring  of  faces,  each  with  its  varying 
expression  of  curiosity  or  concern.  "How 
stupid  of  me !  How  excessively  stupid !  That 
sort  of  behavior  doesn't  help  at  all — does  it? 
.  .  .  Thank  you,  I  can  walk  quite  well.  .  .  , 
I'll  just  go  to  mother's  room  and  telephone 

206 


HANDYS1DE  REAPPEARS         207 

home.  .  .  .  There  has  been  some  silly  mis- 
take. By  this  time  it  will  be  rectified,  I'm 
sure.  .  .  .  Come,  Mr.  Theydon.  Where  is 
Mr.  Winter?" 

"Here,"  said  the  detective.  ''I'll  follow 
in  a  minute  or  so.  Please  don't  communicate 
with  London  till  I  arrive." 

His  quietly  insistent  tone  was  meant  rather 
for  Theydon  than  for  the  half-demented  girl, 
who  was  stumbling  anywhere  but  in  the  right 
direction  until  Theydon  caught  her  arm  and 
led  her  to  the  lift.  She  contrived  to  remain 
outwardly  calm  until  she  reached  the  seclusion 
of  the  sitting  room,  when  she  broke  into  a 
flood  of  tears,  while  in  disjointed  and  hysteri- 
cal words  she  blamed  her  own  rashness  for  the 
fate  which  had  overtaken  her  mother. 

If  only  she  had  used  better  judgment  when 
the  telegram  came — if  only  she  had  hired 
an  automobile  and  driven  straight  to  Beachy 
Head — if  only  she  had  done  a  dozen  other 
things  which  no  one  would  possibly  have 
dreamed  of  doing — she  might  have  safe- 
guarded her  darling  mother! 

Theydon,  meanwhile,  was  nearly  frantic 
with  the  indecision  of  ignorance.  Never  had 
he  felt  so  helpless,  so  utterly  childish  and 
unhinged  in  the  face  of  disaster.  He  had 
heard  that  it  was  good  for  a  woman  to  be 
allowed  to  cry  when  overwhelmed  with 
misery.  Again,  he  remembered  reading  some- 


208  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

where  that  the  feminine  temperament  should 
not  be  allowed  to  yield  to  a  too-tempestuous 
grief,  or  the  delicate  and.  finely-balanced 
female  organism  might  suffer  irreparable  in- 
jury. Should  she  be  given  water  or  a  stim- 
ulant? Should  one  leave  her  alone  or  en- 
deavor to  soothe  her? 

Heaven  only  knew — he  didn't — so  he  did 
exactly  what  any  devout  and  despairing  lover 
might  be  expected  to  do — put  an  arm  around 
her  shoulders,  and  murmured  a  frenzied  as- 
surance of  his  willingness  to  die  several 
times,  and  vanquish  a  horde  of  Young  Man- 
chus  in  the  process,  ere  she  could  be  allowed 
to  endure  one  needless  hour  of  distress  on 
her  mother's  account. 

Somehow,  this  sort  of  nonsense  was  help- 
ful. The  girl  raised  her  swimming  eyes  to 
his.  She  placed  two  appealing  hands  on  his 
shoulders,  and  said  brokenly: 

1  'Mr.  Theydon — I  am  ready  to  trust  you — 
next  to — my  own  father.  .  .  .  Where 
shall  we  go?  What  can  we  do?  I'll  come 
with  you — anywhere — only — my  dear  one 
must  be  rescued." 

He  believed  afterwards  that  he  answered 
her  by  a  kiss !  ,  He  was  not  certain.  The 
delirium  of  the  moment  was  such  that  he 
could  never  recall  its  words  or  acts  with  that 
precision  which  a  well-regulated  mind  should 
display  even  under  the  stress  of  intense  emo- 


HANDYSIDE  REAPPEARS         209 

tion.  In  any  event,  the  crisis  was  interrupted 
by  the  clamor  of  the  telephone  bell. 

Withdrawing  from  what  was  perilously 
near  an  embrace — so  colorable  an  imitation 
of  the  real  thing  that  Winter,  entering  at 
that  instant,  could  make  no  distinction,  and 
was  secretly  amazed  at  these  strenuous  meth- 
ods of  consoling  the  lady — Theydon  lifted  the 
receiver,  and  heard  as  one  in  a  trance  the  tele- 
phone operator's  conventional  announcement: 

' '  Trunk  call  from  Croydon ;  you''re  through. ' ' 

"Who  is  it?"  demanded  the  chief  inspector 
gruffly. 

Even  he,  veteran  fighter  in  the  unceasing 
battle  between  the  law  and  the  malefactor, 
was  feeling  the  strain  of  the  Homeric  strug- 
gle ushered  in  by  the  death  of  Edith  Lester. 

"I  don't  know  yet,"  Theydon  managed  to 
say  collectedly.  "Some  one  from  Croydon. 
Bend  close.  You'll  hear." 

A  quiet,  drawling  voice  reached  them,  the 
vibrating  wire  lending  its  measured  accents  a 
metallic  accuracy. 

"That  you,  Mr.  Theydon?" 

"Why,  it's  Mr.  Handy  side!  Yes,  I'm  here. 
Where  are  you  speaking  from?  Croydon?" 

"That's  so." 

"Well,  I  don't  understand,  but  I'm  sure 
you'll  pardon  me.  We  are  in  a  deuce  of  a 
fix  at  this  end,  so,  if  you'll  arrange  to  call 
tomorrow — " 


210  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

''You've  lost  Mrs.  Forbes,  I  guess.  Is  that 
the  lady's  name!  If  it  is,  I've  kept  track  of 
her.  I—" 

Theydon  was  so  astounded  that  he  looked 
at  Winter  in  blank  amazement,  the  pressure 
of  his  fingers  on  the  circuit  key  relaxed,  and 
the  American's  voice  trailed  abruptly  away 
into  silence.  He  put  matters  right  at  once 
and  heard  the  continuation  of  a  new  sentence, 
whereupon  he  broke  in  excitedly: 

"One  second,  Mr.  Handyside.  Miss  Forbes 
is  here.  I  must  tell  her  your  news!" 

He  turned  to  Evelyn. 

"-Hooray!"  he  almost  yelled.  "Your 
mother  is  all  right.  She  is  with  Mr.  Handy- 
side.  Some  sort  of  miracle  has  happened. 
Come  and  listen." 

Aroused  from  a  stupor  of  grief  as  though 
she  had  received  a  galvanic  shock,  Evelyn 
sprang  up.  Naturally,  she  had  to  place  an 
arm  on  Theydon 's  back  to  permit  jof  her 
head  approaching  near  enough  to  the  tele- 
phone. Thus,  the  three  heads  were  almost 
touching  each  other;  if  an  artist  had  been 
present  he  would  have  obtained  a  study  in 
facial  expressions  worthy  of  Phil  May  or 
Guerrido. 

Handyside,  of  course,  had  heard  Theydon 's 
gleeful  exclamation.  He  chuckled  pleasantly: 

"Your  digest  goes  a  little  too  far,  Mr. 
Theydon,"  he  said,  "but  compared  with  the 


HANDYSIDE  REAPPEARS         211 

newspaper  placard  facts  in  your  possession, 
my  story  is  a  full-sized  novel.  Anyhow,  I'll 
condense  it,  so  here  goes.  I  was  back  of  the 
crowd  when  the  circus  started  outside  the 
Eastbourne  depot.  As  I  ante  'd  up  your  ticket 
and  collected  your  deposit  of  a  sovereign,  I 
saw  what  took  place,  and  sized  up  the  result 
pretty  accurately.  The  kidnaping  proposition 
had  failed,  but  the  guy  in  the  silk  hat  had  got 
clear  away  in  a  bully  good  car — how  good  I 
know  now.  It  seemed  to  me  that,  next  to 
rescuing  that  charming  young  lady,  it  was 
important  something  should  be  known  about 
the  thug  who  wanted  to  carry  her  off,  and, 
when  my  eyes  lit  on  a  workmanlike  motor 
bicycle  with  a  side-car  rig  standing  close  to 
the  curb,  and  well  clear  of  the  arena,  said  I 
to  myself:  'George  T.  Handyside,  this  is  where 
you  take  a  flier,  and  maybe  Illinois  will  score 
one.'  The  man  who  owned  the  outfit  was 
watching  the  commotion  when  I  dug  him  in  the 
ribs.  'Take  me  after  that  car,'  I  said,  'and 
I'll  pay  you  a  shilling  a  mile  with  five 
pounds  on  account  if  it's  only  a  100  yards.'  I 
pressed  a  note  into  his  hand — and,  say,  you 
Britishers  wake  up  all  right  when  you  see  real 
money !  We  were  doing  thirty  per  in  less  than 
ten  seconds.  No  car  on  four  wheels  can  lose 
any  decent  motorcycle  on  a  switchback  track, 
and  Jackson,  the  owner  of  this  one,  says  it's 
good  enough  for  sixty  on  a  fair  stretch  of 


212  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

road.  Anyhow,  we  held  the  thug  dead  easy, 
but  didn't  press  him  any,  as  I  had  no  call  to 
butt  in,  had  I!" 

"Mr.  Handy  side,"  said  Theydon.  "I  won't 
waste  time  now  by  telling  you  how  grateful 
we  all  are.  Get  on  with  the  knitting!" 

"Sir,  I've  had  the  time  of  my  life — a  rip- 
snorting  movie,  with  George  T.  on  the  film 
from  A  to  Z  ...  No!  Go  away,  exchange. 
I'm  renting  this  line  for  the  next  quarter  of 
an  hour.  Well,  we  made  a  bee-line  for  Beachy 
Head — so  Jackson  told  me — and,  when  the 
automobile  pulled  up,  we  got  under  a  hedge 
and  I  did  a  bit  of  scout  work  on  my  feet. 
I  saw  Silk  Hat  pick  out  a  lady  from  a  bunch 
of  people,  who  seemed  to  be  taking  the  view 
with  sandwiches,  and  it  was  simple  as  falling 
off  a  log  to  follow  the  position  of  affairs — 
Silk  Hat  urging  lady  to  come  with  him, 
lady  astonished,  not  able  to  size  up  exact  bear- 
ings of  the  yarn,  but  finally  yielding.  Now, 
if  Miss  Forbes  hadn't  told  us  that  her  mother 
had  written  saying  she  was  going  to  Beachy 
Head  with  a  picnic  party  this  afternoon  I 
would  have  gotten  off  at  the  wrong  address, 
because  I  could  hardly  have  failed  to  believe 
that  Silk  Hat  was  picking  up  a  female  ac- 
complice. But,  as  things  stood,  I  suspicioned 
that,  failing  the  daughter,  he  was  putting  up 
a  bunco  tale  for  the  mother — a  situation  new, 
I  believe,  in  the  realm  of  romantic  fiction.  I 


HANDYSIDE  REAPPEARS         213 

thought  it  was  up  to  me  to  play  a  strong 
hand,  so  I  threw  a  few  facts  on  the  screen 
for  Jackson's  benefit,  and  he  straightway  hit 
the  pike  in  pursuit.  Where  the  country  was 
open  we  kept  well  in  the  rear,  but  crept  closer 
in  villages  and  towns.  We  had  to  stop  at 
Tunbridge  Wells  for  petrol,  but  that  didn't  cut 
any  ice,  because  Jackson  knew  the  country  like 
a  book,  and  we  sighted  the  automobile  within 
five  minutes,  though  the  milestones  were  pretty 
numerous  during  that  run.  After  that,  nothing 
particularly  happened,  except  to  a  hen  and  a 
dog,  until  we  came  near  Croydon — that  is,  I 
knew  it  was  Croydon  because  Jackson  said  so, 
and  I  have  considerable  faith  in  him.  In  be- 
tween whiles,  where  there  was  nothing  doing, 
he  and  I  fixed  up  an  automobile  tour.  Well, 
outside  Croydon,  there's  a  new  road,  with  a 
half -built  villa  at  the  near  end  and  a  way-back 
farmhouse  at  the  other  end.  That  villa  was 
the  one  thing  needed  when  the  thug  made  a 
bee-line  for  the  farm.  I  jumped  out,  told 
Jackson  to  find  something  to  do  to  his  ma- 
chine at  the  corner  of  the  next  block,  and 
hurried  into  the  Alpine  chalet.  From  a  top 
back  room  I  watched  Silk  Hat  carrying  a  lady 
into  the  farm.  Eh,  what's  that?  Yes,  he  was 
carrying  her.  I  guess  he'd  given  her  a  dope 
BO  as  to  stop  any  cry  for  help.  It  made 
me  feel  pretty  mean  to  be  standing  there 
without  taking  a  hand  in  the  deal,  but 


214  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

I  forced  myself  to  believe  that  another 
hour  or  two  couldn't  make  such  a  heap  of 
difference  to  the  lady,  while  it  would  be  better 
to  leave  things  to  the  police.  I  waited  just 
twenty  minutes — I  have  all  the  times  sched- 
uled— until  the  car  came  back.  By  hurrying 
downstairs  I  was  able  to  look  inside  as  it 
passed,  and  Silk  Hat  was  alone.  He  took  the 
London  road.  I  strolled  out — didn't  dare  to 
hurry,  you  know,  in  case  any  one  might  be 
watching  from  the  farm — and  put  in  some 
hard  thinking  while  walking  to  Jackson's 
stand.  There  were  two  courses  open,  either 
to  send  Jackson  after  the  auto  and  try  my- 
self to  get  in  touch  with  you  and  the  police, 
or  put  Jackson  on  guard  near  the  farm. 
Whether  I  decided  rightly  or  not  I  haven't 
a  notion,  but  I  let  the  car  go,  and  for  this 
reason:  We  know  where  the  lady  is,  and  so 
does  the  thug;  if  the  police  put  up  a  hard 
game  they  can  rescue  her  without  his  knowl- 
edge and  spread  a  web  for  the  fly  to  walk  into 
later.  But  they  must  get  a  move  on.  This 
phone  is  nearly  a  mile  from  the  farm,  and 
Jackson  is  tightening  nuts  outside  the  villa 
I  spoke  of.  Now,  what's  the  next  item  on 
the  program!" 

Winter    grabbed    the    receiver   unceremoni- 
ously. 

"I  am  a  representative  of  Scotland  Yard, 
Mr,  Handy  side,"  he  said,    "If  ever  you  want 


HANDYSIDE  REAPPEARS         215 

work  come  to  me,  J.  L.  Winter,  and  I'll  find 
you  some.  Miss  Forbes  is  vexed  with  me 
because  I  have  stopped  her  from  thanking 
you,  but  compliments  must  wait.  Will  you 
go  as  quickly  as  possible  to  the  chief  police 
station  at  Croydon?  By  the  time  you  get 
there  I'll  be  in  touch  with  the  inspector  in 
charge,  and  he  will  do  the  rest.  You  under- 
stand? Goodby!" 

Winter  rang  off.  He  smiled  blandly  at 
Evelyn. 

''There's  no  opportunity  now  for  senti- 
ment," he  explained.  "Our  American  friend 
will  appreciate  quick  action  far  more  than 
talk." 

Then  he  tackled  the  telephone  again  and 
asked  to  be  put  through  to  the  Croydon  police 
station. 

"There  must  be  no  delay,"  he  added. 
"This  is  an  official  call." 

He  was  in  touch  with  Croydon  in  a  re- 
markably short  space  of  time,  and  soon  was 
in  communication  with  a  police  inspector. 

"What's  your  name?"  he  demanded. 

"Inspector  Wilkins,"  came  the  surprised 
answer. 

"Were  you  a  sergeant  at  the  time  of  the 
Surrey  Bank  robbery?" 

"Yes;  but  what  the—" 

"I  am  Winter  of  Scotland  Yard.  Do  you 
recognize  my  voice!" 


216  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

4 'Well— er—  " 

"Do  you  remember  that  nip  of  old  brandy 
I  gave  you  while  we  were  freezing  in  a 
drafty  warehouse  at  three 'o 'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing waiting  for  the  Smasher  to  come  for  his 
plant?" 

"Yes.  You're  Mr.  Winter  right  enough, 
sir." 

"Good!  I  want  you  to  believe  what  I'm 
going  to  tell  you,  as  there  is  a  big  job  ahead. 
A  gang  of  Chinese  cutthroats  have  kidnaped 
a  lady,  wife  of  the  London  banker,  Mr.  James 
Creighton  Forbes.  In  a  few  minutes  an 
American,  a  Mr.  Handyside,  will  be  with  you. 
He  will  point  out  the  house  near  Croydon 
to  which  the  lady  has  been  taken  in  a1  motor 
car.  Collect  half  a  dozen  plain-clothes  men 
and  two  in  uniform  and  go  with  Mr.  Handy- 
side — without  attracting  attention,  of  course. 
Surround  the  house  and  arrest  any  one,  es- 
pecially any  Chinaman,  who  attempts  to 
leave.  Eelease  the  lady,  and  ask  Mr.  Handy- 
side  to  escort  her  to  her  home,  11  Fortescue 
Square,  Belgravia.  If  she  is  very  ill,  which 
is  improbable,  she  should  be  taken  to  a  hos- 
pital. In  that  event  Mr.  Handyside  should 
telephone  Mr.  Forbes.  Occupy  the  farm  and 
arrest  any  one  who  comes  there,  no  matter 
what  the  pretext,  until  Mr.  Furneaux  or  I 
arrive.  I'll  be  with  you  in  two  hours.  Tell 
Mrs.  Forbes  that  her  daughter  will  set  out 


HANDYSIDE  REAPPEARS         217 

from  Eastbourne   by   the   next   train  leaving 
after  6:30.    Got  all  that?" 

''Yes,  sir!  Are  these  Chinamen  likely  to 
show  fight?" 

"Better  be  prepared.  But,  after  posting 
your  sentries,  I  advise  you  and  the  uniformed 
constables  to  rush  the  place.  By  the  way, 
it  will  save  me  some  trouble  if  you  phone  the 
Yard  and  tell  them  exactly  what  I  have  told 
you.  Ask  for  Furneaux.  If  he  is  not  in, 
instruct  them  to  leave  a  written  record  for 
him." 

"I'll  see  to  it,  sir.    Is  that  all?" 

"Yes.     Goodby!    Meet  you  in  two  hours." 

He  whirled  round  on  They  don. 

"Tell  the  manager  to  supply  at  once  the 
best  car  to  be  had  in  Eastbourne  for  love  or 
money,"  he  said.  "I  want  something  that  is 
sure  to  go  and  go  fast." 

The  chief  inspector,  with  full  steam  up, 
was  energy  personified.  His  bulging  eyes,  his 
firm  chin,  his  round  fists,  one  clenching  the 
telephone  instrument,  the  other  resting  on  the 
table,  were  eloquent  of  the  man  of  action. 

His  pride  had  been  sore  stricken  by  the 
escape  of  Wong  Li  Fu  when  that  master 
scoundrel  was  actually  in  his  grasp.  But 
those  powerful  hands  of  his  were  far-reaching, 
and  it  would  go  hard  with  the  jiu-jitsu 
expert  when  next  they  gripped  his  lithe 
frame. 


218  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

Almost  before  Theydon  had  quitted  the 
room  Winter  snapped — there  is  no  other  word 
for  it — literally  snapped  a  question  at  Evelyn. 

"What's  your  telephone  number?" 

She  told  him,  and  again  the  Eastbourne  ex 
change  was  bidden  exert  itself. 

"That  you,  Mr.  Forbes?"  said  the  chief  in- 
spector, after  a  short  wait. 

"Yes." 

"I  am  Winter,  of  Scotland  Yard.  I  want 
to  assure  you  that  your  wife  and  daughter 
will  be  under  your  roof  within  the  next  three 
hours.  Mrs.  Forbes  will  probably  be  escorted 
by  a  gentleman  named  Handyside,  an  Amer- 
ican. You  owe  him  all  possible  thanks,  be- 
cause it  is  due  to  his  action  alone  that  Mrs. 
Forbes  will  soon  be  rescued  from  captivity. 
Yes,  she  was  carried  off  from  Beachy  Head 
this  afternoon  by  Wong  Li  Fu,  but,  by  the 
rarest  good  fortune,  this  Mr.  Handyside,  a 
friend  of  Mr.  Theydon 's,  was  able  to  follow 
on  the  trail,  and  steps  are  now  being  taken 
to  free  her.  Your  daughter  will  speak  to  you. 
I  intervened  merely  to  vouch  for  it  that  an 
almost  incredible  story  is  true.  By  the  way, 
let  no  one  know  that  Mrs.  Forbes  is  in  Lon- 
don. Warn  your  servants  not  to  speak  of 
her  return.  One  more  word — have  you  heard 
anything  of  Furneaux?" 

"I  have  not  heard  from  or  seen  him  since 
we  parted  outside  Bow  Street  police  station. 


HANDYSIDE  REAPPEARS         219 

But,  for  Heaven's  sake,  what  is  this  you  tell 
me  about  my  wife!" 

"Miss  Forbes  will  give  you  all  the  par- 
ticulars we  possess.  Be  calm  and  remain  at 
home.  You  can  best  assist  us  by  stopping 
within  call.  Mrs.  Forbes  and  the  American 
should  arrive  first,  possibly  before  7 : 30.  If 
there  is  any  hitch,  which  is  unlikely,  Mr. 
Handyside  will  telephone  you.  Your  daughter 
will  tell  you  the  hour  she  and  Mr.  Theydon 
should  reach  Victoria.  She  will  speak  to  you 
now.  Excuse  my  abruptness.  A  lot  of  things 
may  happen  before  I  retire  for  the  night,  and 
I  have  no  time  to  pick  and  choose  my  words.'* 

Evelyn,  able  at  last  to  pour  out  her  soul 
in  thanksgiving,  nearly  broke  down  when  she 
heard  her  father's  voice. 

"Oh,  Dad,"  she  wailed,  "I've  passed 
through  a  dreadful  time  since  I  spoke  to  you 
shortly  after  five  o'clock.  I  dropped  as  if  I 
had  been  shot  when  Mrs.  Montagu,  who  was 
one  of  the  picnic  party,  told  me  that  a  man  of 
foreign  appearance,  with  a  scar  on  the  left 
side  of  his  face,  and  who  said  he  was  a 
doctor,  came  to  Beachy  Head  and  told  poor 
mother  that  I  had  sent  for  her." 

She  went  on  to  relate  such  facts  as  were 
known  to  her,  and  was  in  the  midst  of  a 
sensational  narrative  when  Theydon  an- 
nounced that  a  high-powered  touring  car  was 
in  readiness. 


220  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"Won't  you  take  us  with  you?"  he  said  to 
Winter.  ''There  is  no  train  from  here  till 
7 : 30,  and  in  a  motor  we  should  be  well  on 
the  way  to  London  by  that  time." 

Winter  had  anticipated  some  such  request, 
and  a  prompt  refusal  was  on  the  tip  of  his 
tongue,  when  he  recalled  that  he  would  pass 
through  Tunbridge  Wells,  whence  an  earlier 
train  might  be  available.  A  glance  at  the 
time  table  showed  that  a  train  left  Tunbridge 
Wells  at  7:15. 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "I'll  take  you  part  of  the 
way.  Tell  your  father,  Miss  Forbes,  that  you 
will  arrive  at  London  Bridge  at  8 : 40.  If 
you  two  reach  London  by  a  different  route 
I  think  you  should  be  tolerably  safe." 

"If  any  Chinaman  shows  up  between  here 
and  Portescue  Square  I'll  shoot  him  at  sight," 
Theydon  said,  producing  an  automatic  pistol. 

"I  wouldn't  do  that,"  smiled  Winter. 
"You  might  bore  a  hole  in  some  perfectly 
innocent  Celestial.  But  you  won't  be  trou- 
bled. Wong  Li  Fu  carries  out  his  own 
plans,  and  at  present  he  is  congratulating 
himself  on  the  possession  of  a  valuable  host- 
age. But,  come  along!  How  about  a  wrap 
for  you,  Miss  Forbes?  We'll  create  a  breeze, 
you  know." 

She  ran  into  her  mother's  bedroom  and 
came  out  with  a  fur  coat  and  motor  veil, 
articles  which,  she  had  guessed  correctly,  her 


HANDYSIDE  REAPPEARS         221 

mother  would  not  be  wearing  for  the  short 
run  to  Beachy  Head.  The  hotel  manager  lent 
coats  to  the  men,  and  they  started,  not 
without  hearty  congratulations  from  several 
people  in  the  porch,  whose  fears  on  Mrs. 
Forbes 's  account  Theydon  had  dissipated  when 
he  went  out  to  order  the  car. 

Winter  gave  their  thoughts  a  new  direction 
when  Theydon  inquired  what  means  the  au- 
thorities would  adopt  to  rid  the  country  of 
the  pestiferous  gang  which  carried  on  its 
vendetta  with  such  scant  respect  for  the  law 
and  order  of  Great  Britain. 

"Once  we  have  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Forbes  and 
this  young  lady  safely  housed  in  Fortescue 
Square,  and  protected,  not  only  by  their  own 
servants  but  by  the  Metropolitan  Police,  we 
will  devote  ourselves  to  routing  out  the  whole 
crew,"  he  announced.  "My  idea  is  that  when 
we  lay  hands  on  the  ringleader,  the  rest  will 
be  easy.  Furneaux 's  prisoner,  Len  Shi,  may  be 
got  to  talk  when  a  Chinese  interpreter  tackles 
him.  Again,  there  is  every  prospect  of  an 
important  capture  being  made  in  the  Croy- 
don  house.  Most  important  of  all  is  the  pro- 
longed absence  from  the  yard  of  Furneaux. 
He  is  busy,  or  he  would  have  put  in  an  ap- 
pearance there  hours  ago,  if  only  to  get  to 
know  my  whereabouts.  That  means  some- 
thing. Furneaux  never  wastes  time.  Usually 
we  hunt  in  couples.  Today,  by  the  fortune  of 


222  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

war,  we  are  separated,  and  perhaps  for- 
tunately so.  It  is  all  your  fault,  Mr.  They- 
don. ' ' 

"Mine?"  was  the  astonished  cry. 

"Yes.  We  had  to  try  all  sorts  of  tricks  on 
you  before  you  would  speak.  Just  imagine 
Scotland  Yard  being  compelled  to  tap  the 
telephone  of  a  respectable  and  well-known 
author  before  he  would  own  up  to  such  knowl- 
edge as  he  possessed  of  the  murder  in  No.  17 !" 

So  that  was  how  Furneaux  had  played  the 
necromancer,  and  was  able  to  mystify  They- 
don  that  morning. 

The  chief  inspector,  by  raising  the  question, 
was  touching  on  dangerous  ground,  as  he  was 
well  aware,  but  he  was  determined  now  that 
all  barriers  should  be  thrown  down.  Evelyn 
Forbes  was  no  bread-and-butter  miss  from 
whose  cognizance  the  evil  things  of  life  must 
be  sedulously  averted.  A  woman  of  spirit 
and  intelligence,  who  had  already  run  the 
dreadful  risk  of  sharing  Mrs.  Lester's  fate, 
should  be  made  to  understand  every  phase  of 
the  difficulty  with  which  the  Criminal  In- 
vestigation Department  had  yet  to  deal. 

British  law  and  Chinese  anarchy  would 
soon  grapple  in  a  life  and  death  conflict,  and 
it  was  idle  folly  to  suppose  that,  no  matter 
how  reticent  her  friends  might  be,  this  sharp- 
witted  girl  would  not  find  out  for  herself  the 
exact  nature  of  the  link  which  bound  the 


HANDYSIDE  REAPPEARS         223 

fortunes    of   her   own   family   with   those   of 
the  dead  woman. 

Theydon  tried  to  pass  off  the  detective's 
retort  with  a  careless  laugh,  but  Evelyn  re- 
verted to  the  topic  when  they  were  seated 
in  the  London-bound  train  after  Winter  had 
dropped  them  at  Tunbridge  Wells  Station. 

' '  What  did  the  chief  inspector  mean  when 
he  said  you  refused  to  help  him  at  first!" 
she  inquired.  "  There  are  gaps  in  my  history 
of  this  affair.  How  did  you  come  to  know 
that  my  father  was  acquainted  with  Mrs. 
Lester!  Why  did  you  seem,  at  one  time,  to 
be  taking  sides  with  my  father  against  a 
public  inquiry  by  the  police!" 

Then,  seeing  there  was  no  help  for  it,  They- 
don began  at  the  beginning  and  told  the  girl 
the  full,  true  and  unexpurgated  story  of 
events  on  the  Monday  night.  Once  or  twice, 
when  he  hinted  at  the  cause  of  his  otherwise 
inexplicable  actions — which,  quite  obviously, 
lay  in  his  interest  in  the  girl  herself,  she 
blushed  a  little  and  averted  her  eyes.  But 
she  listened  in  silence,  and  did  not  speak 
during  many  seconds  after  he  had  ceased. 

Then  she  simply  murmured: 

"Poor,  dear  Dad!  How  worried  he  must 
have  been!  And  how  well  he  concealed  it 
from  me!" 

After  another  pause,  she  added: 

"We  are  deeply  in  your  debt,  Mr.  Theydon. 


224  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

When  this  ordeal  is  ended,  and  those  horrid 
men  have  been  put  in  prison  or  driven  out  of 
the  country,  our  next  difficulty  will  be  to — to 
thank  you  adequately  for  what  you  have  done." 

Surgit  amari  aliquid!  Even  in  life's  pleas- 
antest  hours  something  bitter  arises.  They- 
don  was  in  the  company  of  the  woman  he 
loved,  yet  no  word  of  love  could  rise  to  his 
lips.  In  the  first  place  he  dared  not  woo  the 
daughter  of  a  millionaire;  in  the  second  were 
his  suit  even  possible,  he  was  far  too  honor- 
able minded  to  take  immediate  advantage  of 
her  disturbed  state  and  the  services  he  had 
undoubtedly  rendered,  and  give  the  slightest 
hint  of  his  passion. 

So  he  sighed  and  looked  out  of  the  window 
at  a  fast-flying  vista  of  a  Kentish  hillside, 
and  contented  himself  by  saying: 

1  'For  what  little  I  have  done,  or  attempted 
to  do,  I  am  already  rewarded  far  beyond  my 
wildest  dreams." 

Even  that  was  more  than  he  meant  to  say. 
Glancing  timidly  at  Evelyn  to  see  whether  or 
not  she  resented  his  words,  he  was  astounded 
to  find  that  she  had  blushed  scarlet,  and,  in 
her  turn,  was  absorbed  in  the  landscape. 

Then  he  remembered  that  in  the  frenzy 
of  the  moment  following  the  report  of  her 
mother's  capture  by  Wong  Li  Fu,  he  had 
kissed  her.  Had  he,  or  had  he  not?  If  not, 
why  not  now?  But  that  way  lay  madness, 


HANDYSIDE  REAPPEARS         225 

And,  wretched  doubt,  was  she  already  the 
promised  bride  of  another  man?  It  was  a 
relief  when  the  train  stopped  at  Sevenoaks. 

When  it  moved  on  again,  they  were  normal  v 
young  people  once  more,  and  discussed 
various  features  of  the  Young  Manchus'  raid 
on  society  as  though  the  extermination  of 
political  adversaries  were  a  commonplace  oc- 
currence in  modern  England. 

At  last,  after  a  journey  which  lived  long 
in  their  minds,  since  even  a  prosaic  train 
may  follow  the  path  to  Wonderland,  they  ar- 
rived at  London  Bridge,  and  hummed  in  a 
taxi  through  streets  of  gaunt  warehouses  until 
the  light  of  Westminster  flashed  on  a  Thames 
veiled  in  the  blue  mystery  of  a  Summer 
gloaming. 

The  cab  had  hardly  halted  outside  the 
Fortescue  Square  mansion  when  the  door  was 
thrown  wide,  and  Tomlinson  appeared, 
flanked  by  two  stalwart  footmen.  The  butler  's 
face  was  aglow  with  pleasure. 

"It's  all  right  now  you've  come,  Miss  Eve- 
lyn," he  said  joyfully.  "Mrs.  Forbes  arrived 
more  than  an  hour  ago." 

But  Tomlinson  was  in  error.  He  did  not 
know  what  tribulations  loomed  already 
through  the  haze  of  the  future,  or  he  would 
have  laid  to  heart  the  time-honored  advice  to 
venturesome  travelers: 

^  Never  hallo  till  you're  out  of  the  wood!" 


CHAPTER  XII 

NO    SURRENDER 

MRS.  FORBES,  a  slim,  elegant  woman,  looked 
as  if  she  were  her  daughter's  elder  sister. 
Although  driven  by  hay  fever  to  the  seaside 
regularly  at  the  beginning  of  the  London 
season,  she  was  far  from  being  a  malade 
imaginaire.  She  did  not  go  willingly.  Each 
year  she  hoped  against  hope  that  the  annoy- 
ing ailment  would  not  make  itself  felt,  yet 
no  sooner  was  the  month  of  May  well  estab- 
lished than  for  six  or  seven  weeks  she  had 
either  to  drag  her  husband  and  daughter 
away  from  the  metropolis  or  live  by  herself 
in  some  South  Coast  hotel. 

She  had  tried  Brighton,  whence  Mr.  Forbes 
could  travel  to  the  city,  but  soon  discovered 
that  the  daily  train  journey  was  not  good 
for  his  health.  After  that,  she  insisted  on 
adopting  the  self-denying  ordinance  of  leav- 
ing Evelyn  with  her  father  in  the  town 
house  from  the  middle  of  May  till  the  end 
of  June,  when  all  three  went  to  the  High- 
lands. 

She,  of  course,  had  not  the  remotest  knowl- 
edge of  the  terrors  threatening  her  house- 

226 


#0  SURRENDER  227 

hold;  a  thunderbolt  out  of  a  Summer  sky 
would  have  astonished  her  less  than  the  in- 
dignities she  endured  when  haled  away  from 
Eastbourne  in  the  luxurious  car  which  Wong 
Li  Fu  had  at  his  command. 

Theydon  had  been  in  the  house  nearly  half 
an  hour  and  was  exchanging  experiences 
with  Forbes  and  Handyside — the  latter,  by 
virtue  of  his  extraordinary  share  in  the  day's 
adventures,  being  admitted  to  the  full  con- 
fidence of  the  others — when  Evelyn  brought 
her  mother  into  the  library. 

"Here  is  some  one  who  positively  refuses 
to  retire  for  the  night  until  she  has  met  you, 
Mr.  Theydon,"  said  the  girl,  radiant  with  joy 
and  relief,  now  that  the  shadow  of  death 
had  passed,  apparently  forever,  leaving  her 
dear  ones  unscathed. 

Mrs.  Forbes,  an  aristocrat  to  the  finger 
tips,  greeted  her  guest  with  marked  cor- 
diality. 

"I  have  been  living  during  the  past  few 
hours  like  one  of  the  characters  one  sees  in 
the  fearsome  little  plays  produced  on  the 
stage  of  the  Grand  Guignol  in  Paris,"  she 
said,  gazing  at  him  with  frank  brown  eyes 
singularly  like  her  daughter's,  "but  I  have 
contrived  to  gather  one  definite  impression 
among  the  whirl  of  things,  and  vhat  is  that 
were  it  not  for  Mr.  Frank  Theydon,  my 
daughter  and  I  would  now  be  in  as  bad  a 


228  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

predicament  as "  two  women  could  possibly 
face  anywhere." 

"I  was  lucky  enough  to  be  of  some  little 
use,  but  Mr.  Handyside  is  the  lion  of  today's 
contest,"  said  Theydon. 

"I  am  grateful  to  both  of  you,  how  grateful 
I  can  never  find  words  to  tell,  but  Mr.  Handy- 
side  rivals  you  in  modesty,  Mr.  Theydon. 
He  assured  me  that  you  were  the  dens  ex 
machina,  though  he  obtained  the  machine  it- 
self, and  rode  sixty  miles  to  rescue  me  from 
my  dragon.  By  the  way,  where  is  the  motor 
cyclist — what  is  his  name?" 

"  Jackson,  ma'am,"  put  in  Handyside.  "He 
went  back  to  Eastbourne — thought  nothing  of 
it.  I  fixed  him  all  right.  He's  coming  to 
London  next  week.  I've  hired  him  for  a 
trip  round  the  island." 

"In   a   side-car?"  laughed  Evelyn. 

"No;  I  guess  we'll  run  to  something  more 
roomy. ' ' 

"Jim,  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Forbes  to  her  hus- 
band, "get  Mr.  Jackson's  address.  Our 
thanks  to  him,  at  least,  can  take  a  tangible 
form.  No,  Evelyn,  I'm  not  going  to  bed.  I 
mean  to  sit  up  and  talk.  I  want  to  hear 
everything.  You  men  must  smoke  big  strong 
cigars,  please.  If  I  breathe  tobacco  smoke  I 
shall  not  fancy  I  want  to  sneeze." 

"I,  for  one,  am  simply  aching  to  hear  what 
happened  to  you,"  said  Theydon. 


NO  SURRENDER  229 

Mrs.  Forbes  was  equally  ready  to  retail 
her  trials. 

"When  a  man  who  resembled  a  tall  and 
well-built  Japanese  came  to  me  on  the 
Downs,"  she  said,  "I  really  believed  him  to 
be  what  he  said  he  was — assistant  to  an  East- 
bourne doctor.  I  never  dreamed  he  was 
Chinese,  not  that  it  mattered  at  all  where  I 
was  concerned,  only  one  becomes  quite  accus- 
tomed to  meeting  well-dressed  Japanese  men 
in  society,  but  hardly  ever  a  Chinaman.  I 
thought,  too,  I  remembered  his  face,  which  is 
quite  possible,  since  my  husband  tells  me  that 
this  Wong  Li  Fu  was  once  an  attache  at  the 
Chinese  Embassy.  He  spoke  excellent  English, 
with  a  strongly  marked  lisp;  when  he  said 
that  my  daughter  wished  to  see  me  at  the 
Royal  Devonshire  Hotel,  and  that  a  Dr.  Sin- 
nett  had  sent  a  car  for  my  convenience,  I  was 
mainly  concerned  in  getting  him  to  admit  the 
real  cause  of  his  presence,  because  I  naturally 
assumed  that  Evelyn  had  met  with  an  acci- 
dent. No  sooner  had  the  car  started  than  he 
seized  my  wrists,  and  gave  them  a  queer 
twist,  which  seemer  to  render  me  powerless 
for  a  few  seconds.  'If  you  scream  or  resist 
I  hurt  you — so — only  very  bad,'  he  said.  I 
was  that  astonished  I  hardly  realized  what 
was  taking  place  before  he  had  my  wrists 
and  ankles  strapped,  tightly,  but  not  pain- 
fully, and  had  placed  a  gag  in  my  mouth. 


230  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

'Now,  you  keep  quiet,'  he  said,  and  showed 
me  a  horrible-looking  knife,  which  he  put  on 
the  seat  between  us.  'If  you  move  at  all 
when  we  pass  through  towns,'  he  went  on, 
'I  stick  this  into  you  very  deep.'  Somehow, 
I  knew  that  he  meant  to  carry  out  his 
threats  to  the  letter.  At  first  I  was  more 
angry  than  hurt  or  even  alarmed.  Then  I 
began  to  believe  that  I  had  fallen  into  the 
clutches  of  a  lunatic,  and  grew  horribly  afraid. 
I  saw  that  we  were  following  the  London 
road,  and  it  oppressed  me  like  a  dreadful 
sort  of  nightmare  to  be  speeding  through  a 
familiar  district,  a  countryside  dotted  with 
the  houses  and  estates  of  personal  friends, 
and  be  unable  to  stir  or  utter  a  sound.  It 
seemed  to  be  almost  stupid  to  see  police- 
men in  the  streets  of  Tunbridge  Wells,  one 
of  whom  gazed  into  our  car  sharply,  because, 
I  suppose,  we  were  traveling  rather  fast,  and 
feel  that  no  one  could  begin  to  guess  at  my 
predicament.  You  all  appreciate  the  fact,  of 
course,  that  I  knew  nothing  whatever  of  any 
quarrel  between  my  husband  and  a  faction 
in  China?" 

"Your  husband  adopted  the  policy  of  the 
ostrich,  Helena,"  said  Forbes,  grimly.  "It 
may  or  may  not  be  a  fable  as  regards  os- 
triches— I  don't  know  enough  about  them  to 
feel  certain,  but  it  is  unquestionably  too  often 
true  of  mankind.  I  believed  my  head  was 


NO  SURRENDER  231 

hidden  and  imagined  the  remainder  of  my 
body  was  safe  in  consequence.  Now  I  learn 
that  my  opponents  have  been  tracking  me 
steadily  for  half  a  year.  The  one  fact  which 
stands  out  clearly  above  all  others  during 
the  past  forty-eight  hours  is  the  phenomenal 
range  and  completeness  of  Wong  Li  Fu's 
plans." 

"I  didn't  mean  my  comment  as  a  reproach, 
dear,"  and  Mrs.  Forbes  gave  him  a  look 
which  told  plainly  that  these  two  were  lovers 
after  many  years  of  wedded  happiness. 
"Thank  God,  we  have  all  escaped — thus  far!" 

"Oh,  mother,"  laughed  Evelyn  nervously, 
"you  are  not  anticipating  more  horrors,  are 
you?" 

"A  few  hours  ago  I  would  have  scoffed 
at  any  one  who  said  that  a  handful  of  Chinese 
could  tear  aside  our  cloak  of  civilized  se- 
curity as  though  it  were  a  spider's  web,"  was 
the  serious  reply.  "But  I  have  interrupted 
my  own  story.  I  began  to  think  that  I  would 
be  taken  to  some  awful  den  in  the  East  End, 
and  held  there  till  some  huge  sum  of  money 
was  paid  by  way  of  ransom,  when  the  car 
suddenly  quitted  the  main  road  and  bumped 
over  a  rough  surface.  I  knew  I  was  near 
Croydon — the  last  place  I  would  have  sus- 
pected as  a  brigands'  stronghold.  Then  we 
halted,  and  that  wretched  man  lifted  me  out, 
carried  me  into  a  back  room  of  an  old-fash- 


232  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

ioned  house,  put  me  in  a  fairly  comfortable 
chair,  tied  me  in  with  ropes,  and  left  me.  I 
couldn't  speak.  I  was  looking  at  a  blank  wall 
and  smoke-stained  ceiling.  I  was  sure  then 
that  he  was  after  money,  and  began  to  calcu- 
late the  time  which  must  elapse  before  my  hus- 
band would  hear  from  him  and  arrange  for 
my  release.  I  wondered  how  much  he  would 
ask — ten,  twenty,  fifty  thousand  pounds.  How 
much  would  you  have  paid,  Jim?" 

Mrs.  Forbes  took  her  trials  so  cheerfully 
that  they  all  laughed. 

" That's  hardly  a  fair  question,  is  it?"  she 
continued,  stealing  another  glance  at  her  hus- 
band. "At  any  rate,  being  a  banker's  wife,t 
I  knew  how  extraordinarily  difficult  it  would 
be  to  raise  any  considerable  sum  of  gold  at 
such  a  late  hour,  and  I  resigned  myself  to  re- 
maining a  prisoner  all  night.  Then  I  think 
I  wept  a  little,  but  not  for  long,  because  I 
felt  that  they  meant  to  keep  me  alive,  and  as 
I  look  more  delicate  than  I  really  am,  even 
a  Chinaman  would  see  that  he  was  taking 
some  risk  by  denying  me  food  and  all  liberty 
of  movement.  Then — very  soon,  it  seemed— 
I  heard  an  outer  door  being  forced  off  its 
hinges  and  English  voices,  and  the  door  of. 
my  room  was  broken  open,  and  I  saw  a 
police  inspector  and  some  constables.  Hither- 
to I  have  never  properly  appreciated  our 
policemen.  From  this  day  I  become  their  most 


NO  SURRENDER  233 

ardent  admirer  and  enthusiastic  helper.  I 
could  have  gone  down  on  my  knees  to  those 
big,  kind-looking  men  in  uniform.  In  fact  I 
nearly  did.  When  they  released  me  I  could 
hardly  stand.  After  that,  Mr.  Handyside 
came,  and  accompanied  me  here,  with  a  de- 
tective sitting  next  the  driver,  and  my  hus- 
band and  Evelyn  have  told  me  something  of 
the  extraordinary  things  which  have  been  go- 
ing on  in  London  while  I  was  gadding  about 
at  Eastbourne." 

"Was  the  detective  a  man  named  Fur- 
neaux?"  inquired  Theydon. 

Mrs.  Forbes  hesitated,  and  her  husband 
answered  for  her,  as  he  alone,  among  the 
members  of  the  household,  had  met  the  Jer- 
sey man. 

"No,"  he  said.  "He  belonged  to  the  Croy- 
don  force,  and  was  sent  as  an  escort.  Fur- 
neaux  seems  to  have  been  swallowed  alive 
since  three  o'clock.  Everybody  is  inquiring 
for  him,  and  no  one  appears  to  know  anything 
about  him." 

"I  wonder  whether  Wong  Li  Fu  is  aware 
I  have  been  liberated?"  said  Mrs.  Forbes. 
"It's  rather  odd,  is  it  not,  that  nothing  has 
been  heard  from  him  or  his  gang  if  I 
was  to  be  held  a  prisoner  in  order  to  extort 
terms  t" 

"I  fancy  he  meant  to  add  significance  to 
his  demand  for  a  reply  by  advertisement  in 


234  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

tomorrow's  Times,"  said  Forbes.  "You  see, 
Helena,  he  meant  to  carry  off  Evelyn  as  well 
as  you." 

Mrs.  Forbes  smiled  again  at  that. 

"What  in  the  world  should  each  of  us  have 
thought  if  we  had  both  been  bound  and 
gagged  in  that  car?"  she  cried. 

"I  know  what  I  think,"  said  her  husband 
emphatically.  "You  are  going  straight  to 
bed  now,  and  you'll  take  ten  grains  of 
bromide  before  lying  down.  Evelyn,  I  ap- 
point you  nurse.  Don't  leave  your  mother 
till  she  is  sound  asleep." 

Mrs.  Forbes  rose  at  once.  She  admitted, 
though  reluctantly,  that  a  night's  rest  was 
necessary  to  steady  her  nerves. 

"Ah!"  she  sighed,  "I  shall  be  so  glad 
when  all  this  turmoil  is  ended,  and  we  are 
settled  for  the  season  in  Sutherland." 

"Sutherland,  ma'am,"  inquired  Handyside. 
"Isn't  that  in  the  far  north  of  Scotland?" 

"Yes." 

"It  would  be,  just  as  the  North  Foreland 
is  in  Kent." 

Theydon  explained  his  friend's  theory  of 
geographical  names  in  the  British  Isles,  and 
on  that  lightly  humorous  note  the  ladies 
disappeared.  When  they  were  gone  Forbes 
quickly  gave  a  sinister  turn  to  their  talk. 
He  produced  a  letter  from  his  pocket. 

"Listen  to  this,"  he  said. 


NO  SURRENDER  235 

"Y.  M.  is  pleased  to  inform  James  Creigh- 
ton  Forbes  that  Mrs.  Forbes  is  a  prisoner, 
and  will  remain,  without  food  or  drink  and 
unable  to  move,  in  an  empty  house  until 
Y.  M.'s  demands  are  granted.'* 

His  face  was  white  with  fury  while  he 
read,  and  his  fingers  moved  convulsively  as 
if  he  could  feel  them  twining  around  Wong  Li 
Fu's  throat.  The  other  men  maintained  a 
sympathetic  silence.  They  understood  why 
that  ghastly  'message  had  been  withheld  from 
the  cognizance  of  the  lady  who  had  just 
quitted  them. 

"It  was  delivered  by  -a  messenger  boy 
shortly  before  you  arrived,  Theydon,"  said 
Forbes,  when  his  passion  had  subsided  and 
he  could  trust  his  voice  again. 

"Have  you  informed  Scotland  Yard!"  said 
Theydon. 

"No.  I  dared  not  use  the  telephone.  I 
could  not  leave  my  wife.  She  is  far  more 
shaken  than  she  thinks.  Ever  since  her  re- 
turn she  has  followed  me  if  I  even  walked 
across  the  room.  It  was  pitiful.  I  had  to 
lie  to  her  when  the  butler  brought  this  in- 
fernal note.  She  saw  it  was  typed,  and  be- 
lieved my  explanation  that  it  was  a  mere 
record  of  an  office  cablegram." 

"Give  it  to  me,"  said  Theydon.  "Mr. 
Handyside  and  I  must  leave  you  now.  We'll 
take  it  to  Scotland  Yard.  Mr.  Winter  ought 


236  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

to  know  of  it.  In  all  likelihood  he  is  arrang- 
ing to  remain  in  the  Croydon  house  tonight, 
and,  if  Wong  Li  Fu  is  telling  the  truth,  which 
is  highly  probable,  the  local  police  can  watch 
the  place  adequately." 

' 'Yes.  You're  right,  of  course.  I  should 
have  seen  that  an  hour  ago,  but  my  brain 
is  on  fire  owing  to  the  torture  these  fiends 
have  devised." 

"Are  you  quite  safe  here?  It  is  an  absurd 
question,  but  I  would  like  to  feel  assured  on 
that  point.  Shall  I  return,  and  strengthen 
your  guard?" 

"I'm  exceedingly  obliged  to  you,  but,  in 
addition  to  two  of  my  servants,  thoroughly 
trustworthy  men,  a  detective  sergeant  and 
constable  have  come  from  Scotland  Yard. 
They  are  now  having  supper.  When  the 
household  retires  for  the  night  two  will  re- 
main in  this  room,  with  the  door  open,  and 
two  in  the  butler's  room,  which  commands 
the  other  staircase.  Moreover  a  constable  will 
patrol  this  side  of  the  square,  and  a  second 
one  the  back  of  the  premises,  until  long  after 
daybreak. ' ' 

"Tell  you  what,"  said  Handyside,  when  he 
and  Theydon  were  in  a  taxi,  and  had  made 
certain  they  were  not  being  followed,  "tell 
you  what,  son,  you've  struck  a  bonanza  in  this 
Chinese  drama." 
"What  do  you  mean?"  said  Theydon. 


NO  SURRENDER  237 

"Well,  I  guess  you're  the  curly-haired  boy 
where  Miss  Evelyn  is  concerned." 

"Like  most  Americans,  you  jump  at  con- 
clusions," was  the  ungracious  reply. 

"And,  like  most  Americans,  I'm  right 
nearly  all  the  time,"  said  Handyside  dryly. 

"Surely  one  can  hardly  discuss  such  a 
matter." 

"Why  not?  If  a  proposition  sounds  hard, 
chew  on  it,  and  may  be  you'll  get  your  teeth 
into  it  somehow." 

Theydon  nearly  allowed  himself  to  become 
angry.  Was  his  hopeless  admiration  for 
Evelyn  Forbes  so  patent  that  a  sharp-eyed 
stranger  could  discern  it  after  a  brief  hour 
in  their  company? 

"Millionaires'  daughters  marry  poor  men 
only  in  novels  and  on  the  stage,"  he  said 
bitterly.  "In  real  life,  and  in  England,  they 
take  unto  themselves  titles  and  landed 
estates." 

"I  guess  Wong  Li  Fu  will  have  to  round 
you  up  some  more,"  was  the  cryptic  answer, 
and  Handyside  forthwith  plunged  airily  into 
some  wholly  different  topic. 

At  Scotland  Yard  they  inquired  for  Fur- 
neaux,  and  were  told  he  had  not  reported 
at  headquarters  since  the  early  afternoon. 
So  Theydon  was  introduced  to  another  rep- 
resentative of  the  department,  and  handed 
over  the  typed  note;  the  detective  promised 


238  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

that    its    purport    should    be    telephoned    to 
Croydon  without  delay. 

When  the  two  reached  the  Embankment 
again,  Theydon  felt  unaccountably  tired,  and 
was  minded  to  take  leave  of  his  companion 
then  and  there.  But  Handyside  placed  an 
unerring  finger  on  the  cause  of  his  weariness. 

4 'Say,  Mr.  Theydon,"  he  cried,  "I  don't 
know  what  food  product  arrangements  you've 
made  all  day,  but  I  couldn't  have  eaten  less 
since  breakfast  if  Wong  Li  Fu  was  sitting 
over  me  with  a  pistol.  How  about  a  square 
meal?  Come  to  my  hotel,  and  I'll  start  the 
chef  on  a  nice  little  menoo  while  we're  hav- 
ing a  wash  and  a  brush  up." 

"By  Jove!  Now  I  know  what  is  the  mat- 
ter with  me,"  was  the  astonishing  answer. 
"I  have  lunched  and  dined  on  a  cup  of  tea 
at  Eastbourne." 

"Guess  I'm  fifteen  years  older  than  you, 
so  I  knew  my  trouble  all  the  time.  Those 
people  in  Fortescue  Square  were  so  rattled 
that  they  never  thought  of  asking  us  to  eat. 
Come  right  along.  It's  only  a  step." 

"I'll  come  with  pleasure.  I  owe  you  some 
money,  too,  which  I  was  nearly  forgetting." 

"What  do  you  owe  for?" 

"Railway  tickets,  and  taxis,  and  motor- 
cycles, to  begin  with." 

"No,  sir,"  said  the  American  decisively. 
"I've  had  the  cheapest  day's  amusement  I've 


NO  SURRENDER  239 

ever  dreamed  of.  On  balance  I  owe  you  one 
sovereign.  As  for  those  half-tickets  from 
Eastbourne  I  wouldn't  sell  them  for  dollars 
and  cents.  When  I  get  back  to  my  home, 
21,097  Park  Avenue,  Chicago,  I'll  have  those 
bits  of  cardboard  framed,  and  when  some 
particular  friend  asks  the  reason  I'll  tell  him, 
suppressing  names  of  course,  and  he'll  go 
away  thinking  that  George  T.  Handyside  is 
the  biggest  liar  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  which 
is  some  pumpkin,  you  bet." 

"What  beats  me,"  rejoined  Theydon,  "is 
how  you  remember  where  you  live.  You 
must  have  a  marvelous  head  for  figures." 

So  they  dined  well,  and  wined  moderately, 
and  Theydon  walked  to  Innesmore  Mansions, 
thinking  of  little  else  in  the  world  except 
of  the  moment  when  he  held  Evelyn  Forbes 
in  his  arms,  almost  in  an  embrace,  and  he 
had  dared  nearly,  if  not  quite,  to  kiss 
her. 

As  he  drew  near  Innesmore  Mansions,  how- 
ever, he  kept  his  wits  about  him.  One  of  the 
most  remarkable  features  of  a  series  of  re- 
markable crimes  was  the  thorough  command 
of  the  resources  of  civilization  exhibited  by 
the  Young  Manchus.  A  few  days  earlier  he 
would  not  have  dared  to  introduce  into  a 
story  of  his  own  an  association  composed 
exclusively  of  Chinamen  which  adapted  to 
its  needs  the  motor  car,  the  messenger  boy, 


240  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

perhaps  the  telephone  and  telegraph,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  advertising  columns  of  the 
daily  press. 

It  was  monstrous  to  imagine  that  a  number 
of  Orientals — marked  men,  every  one,  no 
matter  what  disguises  they  might  adopt— 
should  dare  bid  defiance  to  the  forces  of  the 
British  Constitution  in  order  that  they  might 
wreak  vengeance  on  those  more  enlightened 
compatriots  who  wished  to  see  their  country 
rescued  from  the  effete  control  of  a  puppet 
Emperor. 

But  Theydon  was  now  some  days  older 
and  many  degrees  wiser.  He  knew  that  the 
wildly  improbable  had  become  dogged  fact, 
that  Chinese  fanaticism,  tigerish  in  its  crafty 
and  utter  cold-bloodedness,  was  setting  at 
naught  not  only  the  ordinances  of  the  law,  but 
the  brightest  intellects  whose  duty  it  was  to 
make  that  law  respected. 

It  behooved  him,  therefore,  to  lend  a  sharp 
eye  to  his  own  safety,  and  never  a  vehicle  or 
pedestrian  came  near  while  he  traversed  the 
quiet  streets  in  the  neighborhood  of  Innes- 
more  Mansions  that  he  did  not  give  the 
closest  attention  to  cab  or  wayfarer,  as  the 
case  might  be. 

As  it  happened,  that  quarter  of  London 
was  singularly  deserted.  The  first  flight  of 
people  homeward-bound  from  the  theaters 
was  well  over;  the  later  contingent,  supping 


SURRENDER  241 

in  restaurants,  had  not  begun  to  arrive. 
Save  for  the  slow-moving  figure  of  a  police- 
man the  long  front  of  the  mansions  them- 
selves was  devoid  of  life. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  with  a  feeling  of  relief 
that  he  turned  the  key  in  the  lock  of  No. 
18,  and  heard  the  scraping  of  a  chair 
on  the  kitchen  floor  as  Bates  rose  to  meet 
him. 

"Hello,  Bates!"  he  cried  wearily,  "here  I 
am  again,  you  see!  Anything  new  or  in- 
teresting during  my  absence?" 

"Mrs.  Paxton — "  began  the  valet,  stopping 
when  his  master  uttered  a  sharp  exclamation. 
Theydon  had  completely  forgotten  Miss  Beale 
and  his  sister. 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "Sorry  I  interrupted  you. 
What  of  Mrs.  Paxton?" 

"I  saw  her,  sir,  as  you  ordered,  and  she 
promised  to  call  on  Miss  Beale.  She  kem 
here  about  an  hour  ago — " 

"Who?     My  sister?" 

"Yes,  sir.  She  was  anxious  to  see  you. 
From  what  I  could  gather,  sir,  the  two  ladies 
had  bin  puttin'  their  heads  together,  and 
agreed  that  this  Chinese  business  has  a  nasty 
look,  an'  you'd  better  keep  out  of  it." 

"What  Chinese  business,  Bates?" 

"Well,  sir,  Miss  Beale  will  'ave  it  that  Mrs. 
Lester  was  killed  by  a  Chinaman,  an'  one 
of  the  police  on  duty  in  this  district  told  me 


242  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

a  little  while  ago  that  he  saw  no  less  than 
three  Chinamen  prowlin'  round  here  last 
Monday  between  dusk  and  dark." 

Theydon  drew  a  deep  breath.  If  there  was 
gossip  going  on  about  "Chinamen"  in  connec- 
tion with  the  murder  in  No.  17  the  newspapers 
would  soon  be  getting  hold  of  it.  The  arrest 
of  Len  Shi  by  Furneaux  must  be  reported. 
Possibly  some  newspaper  correspondent  in 
Eastbourne  would  hear  of  the  kidnaping  ex- 
ploit, and  describe  the  Eastern  aspect  of  its 
chief  actor,  Mrs.  Forbes 's  name  would  "tran- 
spire" in  the  paragraph,  and,  by  putting  two 
and  two  together  the  lynx-eyed  journalism  of 
London  would  ferret  out  a  good  deal  of  the 
truth. 

"Ladies  very  often  talk  nonsense  about  such 
things,"  he  said  sharply.  "Why  should  any 
Chinaman  single  out  poor  Mrs.  Lester  as  a 
victim?  I  think  the  inquiry  may  be  left  safely 
to  Scotland  Yard.  Have  you  seen  the  evening 
papers?  I'll  bet  you  sixpence  nothing  was 
said  at  the  inquest  concerning  Chinamen?" 

"No,  sir.  That's  true.  However,  Mrs.  Pax- 
ton  wants  you  to  ring  her  up." 

"Why?" 

"She  wants  to  be  sure  you  are  safe  home." 

Theydon  laughed.  "How  can  I?"  he  cried. 
"She  is  not  on  the  telephone." 

"Mrs.  Paxton  left  a  number,  sir.  If  you 
give  them  a  call  it  will  be  taken  to  her." 


NO  SURRENDER  243 

Theydon  shook  his  head  good-humoredly 
but  obeyed.  A  voice  at  the  other  end  an- 
swered : 

"Will  you  oblige  me  by  telling  Mrs.  Paxton 
that  I  took  an  American  friend  to  Eastbourne 
this  afternoon  and  returned  by  a  late  train?" 
he  said. 

"Who  is  it,  please?" 

"Mr.  Theydon,  Mrs.  Paxton 's  brother." 

"0,  I  have  a  message  for  you.  Miss  Beale 
is  staying  with  Mrs.  Paxton  tonight.  There 
was  a  Chinaman  in  her  hotel,  and  she  didn't 
like  it." 

Theydon  controlled  his  feelings  sufficiently 
to  thank  his  informant.  He  really  wanted  to 
say  something  crude. 

"Gad!"  he  muttered,  when  he  had  rung  off, 
"these  women  have  Chinamen  on  the  brain. 
Look  here  Bates,"  he  added  emphatically,  "I 
hope  you  won't  lend  an  ear  to  this  nonsense. 
You've  seen  no  Chinamen,  I  suppose?" 

"No,  sir." 

"If  you  do  see  one,  tell  me,  and  I'll  get  to 
know  his  business,  pretty  quick." 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Any  letters?" 

"Three,  sir,  and  a  small  parcel.  I  put  them 
on  your  table.  Shall  I  get  you  something, 
sir?" 

"No,  thanks.  I've  just  had  a  huge  supper. 
Goodnight." 


244  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"  Goodnight,  sir.  Any  orders  for  the  morn- 
ing?" 

"Let  me  sleep  as  long  as  I  like,  unless  I'm 
wanted." 

Theydon  entered  the  sitting  room.  He 
opened  the  letters.  Two  were  of  no  moment; 
the  third  was  a  request  from  the  editor  of  a 
magazine  that  the  "copy"  of  his  article  on  the 
"Forbes  Peace  Propaganda"  should  be  for- 
warded as  speedily  as  practicable.  What  a 
mad  world  it  was,  to  be  sure!  Here  was  an 
important  periodical  waiting  impatiently  for 
the  views  of  the  millionaire  on  the  best  means 
of  securing  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  all 
men,  while  that  same  master  mind  was  ob- 
sessed with  fear  of  a  few  Chinese  bandits.  So- 
ciety was  looking  to  Forbes  for  a  promised 
panacea  against  war  and  its  evils ;  Forbes  him- 
self was  wondering  whether  bolts  and  locks 
and  armed  servants  and  policemen  would  pro- 
tect him  and  his  from  the  claws  of  the  Young 
Manchus ! 

Theydon  heard  Bates  locking  and  bolting  the 
outer  door  of  the  flat  with  a  certain  thank- 
fulness. He  was  thinking  of  the  sheer  impos- 
sibility of  any  marauder  gaining  access  to  No. 
18,  when  he  opened  the  small  parcel  which  the 
valet  had  spoken  of.  He  speculated  idly  as  to 
the  nature  of  its  contents,  because  he  could  not 
remember  having  ordered  any  article  which 
would  be  contained  in  so  tiny  a  package. 


#0  SURRENDER  245 

He  took  out  a  piece  of  stout  paper,  folded 
twice,  and  a  little  white  object  fell  to  the  table 
and  rolled  over  several  times,  finally  coming 
to  rest  with  a  curious  suddenness.  It  was  a 
small,  carved,  ivory  skull! 


CHAPTER  XIII 

SOME   NEW    MOVES   IN    THE   GAME 

THEYDON  gazed  fixedly  at  the  skull  for  the 
best  part  of  a  minute.  His  state  of  mind  was 
that  of  a  man,  utterly  incredulous,  who  nev- 
ertheless thinks  he  sees  a  ghost.  Then  he  re- 
covered himself  and  laughed  angrily,  harshly, 
because  he  had  not  succeeded  better  in  con- 
trolling his  nerves. 

He  examined  the  paper.  It  bore  no  writing 
of  any  kind.  It  was  precisely  similar  in  color 
and  texture  to  the  two  typed  slips  which 
Forbes  had  received,  but  the  sender  had 
evidently  thought  that  the  skull  was  symboli- 
cal enough  of  deadly  intent  without  troubling 
to  add  a  written  threat. 

The  ivory  skull  was  an,  exact  replica  of  its 
predecessors.  The  set  teeth,  the  scowling  grin 
of  the  gaunt  jawbones,  the  dull  menace  of  the 
empty  eye  sockets,  were  equally  convincing, 
equally  disconcerting. 

Lighting  a  cigarette,  Theydon  scrutinized 
the  address  and  postmarks.  In  a  sense,  it  was 
ludicrous  to  find  "Francis  B.  Theydon,  Esq., 
18  Innesmore  Mansions,  W.  C.,"  typed  in  plain 
script  on  the  wrapper.  What  an  unholy  alli- 

Ml 


NEW  MOVES  IN  THE  GAME      247 

ance  of  modern  science  and  medievalism!  The 
mind  almost  refused  to  focus  itself  on  the 
tragic  aspect  of  the  affair,  yet  the  hour  at 
which  the  package  was  posted,  5:30  p.  m.  in 
the  West  Strand,  showed  conclusively  that 
Wong  Li  Fu,  at  any  rate,  had  not  sent  the 
death's  head  by  his  own  hand,  but  had  en- 
trusted it  to  a  confederate.  The  notion  brought 
in  its  train  the  departure  of  Miss  Beale  from 
her  hotel,  "  because  she  had  seen  a  Chinaman 
there."  " Every  little  helps,"  mused  They- 
don,  "I  must  let  Scotland  Yard  know." 

He  went  straight  to  the  telephone,  and  was 
pleased  to  hear  that  Mr.  Winter  had  reached 
headquarters.  The  chief  inspector  was  feeling 
grateful,  and  said  so. 

"It  was  very  thoughtful  on  your  part  to 
deal  so  promptly  with  the  message  received  by 
Mr.  Forbes,"  he  said.  "I  meant  remaining  in 
Croydon  all  night.  No  one  came  to  the  house, 
of  course.  Wong  Li  Fu's  note  explained  why. 
Callous  and  calculating  demon,  isn't  he?" 

"Yes.  Even  more  calculating  than  you  are 
aware.  He  has  included  me  in  the  count  now. 
When  I  reached  home  ten  minutes  since,  after 
gormandizing  with  Mr.  Handyside,  I  found  the 
totem  of  the  tribe  awaiting  me." 

"The  what?" 

"An  ivory  skull." 

"You  don't  say!"  and  there  was  a  genuine 
thrill  in  Winter's  voice.  "Anything  else?" 


248  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

''There  was  no  written  legend.  I  have  no 
doubt  the  enemy  believes  that  such  a  work  of 
art  speaks  for  itself.  It  does.  I  am  to  be 
exterminated,  I  suppose." 

A  marked  pause  ensued.  When  Winter 
spoke  again  his  tone  was  grave. 

"This  is  a  very  serious  business,  Mr.  They- 
don,"  he  said.  "The  worst  part  of  it  is  that 
it  seems  to  be  spreading  in  an  ever-widening 
circle.  If  it  goes  much  further  we'll  be  obliged 
to  run  in  every  Chinaman  in  London,  and  sift 
out  the  decent  ones  from  the  heap  until  we 
reach  the  unpleasant  residuum.  Are  you  wor- 
ried about  things?  If  so,  I'll  send  a  man  to 
mount  guard  tonight." 

"Not  at  all,  thanks.  Bates  and  I  will  take 
care  that  there  isn't  even  a  joss  stick  in  the  flat 
before  we  go  to  bed.  But  I  say,  there's  an- 
other matter.  Have  you  met  Miss  Beale?" 

"Yes.  She  came  here  this  morning.  She 
gave  evidence  at  the  inquest,  I  am  told.  What 
of  her?" 

"I  asked  my  sister  to  spend  the  evening 
with  her,  and  she  was  so  alarmed  at  finding  a 
Chinaman  as  a  fellow-guest  in  her  hotel  that 
she  is  spending  the  night  in  my  sister's 
house." 

"A  plague  on  all  Chinamen!"  cried  Winter 
wrathfully.  "After  this  I'm  dashed  if  I  don't 
drink  Indian  tea.  However,  we'll  look  him  up. 
Sleep  soundly.  Your  earlier  sins  of  omission 


NEW  MOVES  IN  THE  GAME      249 

are  forgiven  you,  because  you  have  done  us 
several  good  turns  today.  I'll  tell  your  local 
police  station  that  if  any  pigtail  or  squint  eye 
is  found  within  half  a  mile  of  Innesmore  Man- 
sions tonight  it  is  to  be  jugged  without  the 
slightest  hesitation.  Keep  the  skull  safely. 
Furneaux  is  collecting  them." 

"Have  you  seen  him,  then?" 

"No.  But  I've  heard  from  him.  He  has 
gone  home  suffering  from  opium  poisoning." 

"Great  Scott!" 

"0,  that's  only  pretty  Fanny's  way.  He 
means  that  he  is  sick  of  the  reek  of  China- 
men. You  know  his  peculiar  views  with  regard 
to  tobacco.  If  he  has  been  prowling  around 
among  opium  dens  in  the  East  End  all  the 
evening,  I'm  sorry  for  him.  But  he'll  turn 
up  all  right  in  the  morning,  looking  like  a  skin- 
ned weasel.  By  the  way,  it'll  interest  you  to 
hear  that  we  have  cleared  up  one  minor  issue. 
You  remember  that  Ann  Rogers,  Mrs.  Les- 
ter's maid,  was  called  away  by  a  telegram 
saying  that  her  father  was  ill?" 

"Yes." 

"The  old  fellow,  who  is  a  bit  of  a  sponge, 
admits  that  he  was  given  two  pounds  by  *a 
foreign  gentleman'  for  sending  that  telegram 
and  shamming  illness  during  the  night.  I  wish 
I  could  put  the  hoary  old  rascal  in  jail,  but 
his  action  probably  saved  Ann  Rogers  from 
sharing  her  mistress's  fate." 


250  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"Mr.  Winter,  has  it  struck  you  that  the 
man  who  devised  this  scheme,  beginning  with 
the  murder  of  Mrs.  Lester  and  ending,  Heaven 
alone  knows  when  or  where,  is  an  organizing 
genius  of  a  very  high  order?" 

"You  would  be  surprised  if  you  knew  the 
real  extent  and  scope  of  this  affair,"  said  Win- 
ter. "Some  day  soon  I'll  be  more  outspoken. 
Goodnight.  If  you  go  out  in  the  morning 
leave  word  with  Bates  where  you  can  be  found 
if  wanted." 

Theydon  turned  from  the  telephone  and 
found  Bates  standing  beside  him.  That  stolid 
and  worthy  ex-noncommissioned  officer  was 
armed  with  a  red-hot  poker.  Henceforth  his 
employer  saw  pretense  was  useless. 

"Beg  pardon,  sir,"  said  the  valet  apologetic- 
ally. "I  couldn't  help  overhearin'  what  you 
were  sayin',  an'  if  there's  any  blinkin'  Chinee 
hidden  in  this  place  I'll  put  a  mark  on  him 
he  won't  forget  in  a  hurry." 

Theydon  could  not  help  laughing,  but  Bates 
was  in  earnest. 

"Once  I  was  stationed  in  Cork,  sir,"  he 
said  solemnly,  "an'  we  had  to  stop  a  riot. 
It  was  then  I  learnt  the  reel  vally  of  a  red- 
hot  poker.  It's  as  good  as  a  baynit  any  time. 
I've  kep'  this  one  handy  since  Mr.  Furneaux 
ran  out.  I  do  believe  he  saw  a  Chinaman." 

"He  did,  and,  what  is  more,  arrested  him. 
Well,  come  on,  Bates.  There  are  not  many 


NEW  MOVES  IN  THE  GAME      251 

hiding  places  in  one  of  these  flats.  I  only 
hope  we  find  a  Celestial.  It  would  be  the  fit- 
ting finale  to  a  busy  day." 

But  their  search  was  in  vain,  though  they 
succeeded  in  scaring  Mrs.  Bates  badly.  It 
was  almost  inconceivable  that  two  such  men, 
one  a  powerfully-built  athlete  and  the  other  an 
ex-soldier,  should  even  imagine  that  any  ma- 
rauder could  be  secreted  in  the  flat;  but  the 
European  insensibly  credits  the  Oriental  with 
occult  powers,  and  they  took  their  task  quite 
soberly. 

Singularly  enough  it  led  to  a  discovery  bear- 
ing directly  on  the  problem  of  Mrs.  Lester's 
death.  Leading  out  of  the  kitchen  was  a  nar- 
row scullery;  here  a  lift,  worked  by  a  wheel 
on  the  ground  level,  delivered  coals  by  the  sack 
and  other  heavy  parcels. 

Theydon  glanced  at  the  sliding  panel  which 
gave  access  to  the  lift.  Obviously  he  seldom, 
if  ever,  visited  this  part  of  his  domain. 

"Can  that  thing  be  operated  only  from  the 
ground?"  he  inquired. 

"0,  no,  sir,"  said  Bates.  "I  often  pull  it 
up  when  I  want  to  lower  the  dust  bin." 

"Can  you  do  it  now?" 

Bates  looked  surprised  at  first,  then  thought- 
ful. Theydon 's  words  had  suggested  a  new 
idea.  He  opened  the  panel,  tugged  vigorously 
at  a  rope,  and  soon  the  lift  itself,  a  sort  of 
large  cupboard,  open  at  the  side,  came  in  view. 


252  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"By  gum!"  he  muttered,  gazing  at  its  spa- 
cious depths,  "I  never  thought  of  that." 

1  'You  see  what  I'm  driving  at,  then?" 

"Why,  of  course,  sir.  A  moderate-sized  man 
could  stow  away  inside  there  and  hoist  him- 
self to  any  floor.  It  'ud  be  perfectly  easy  an' 
safe  as  nails.  A  hundredweight  of  coal  is  no- 
thing to  it." 

"I  think  we  see  now  at  least  one  method 
whereby  the  man  who  killed  Mrs.  Lester 
could  have  entered  the  flat  without  her  knowl- 
edge?" 

"Not  a  doubt  about  it,  sir.  Nearly  noise- 
less, too,  an'  if  you  heard  it  working  you'd 
imagine  it  was  meant  for  the  flat  beneath,  be- 
cause there's  a  whistle  to  warn  us  when  it's 
comin'  here." 

They  surveyed  the  lift  in  silence  for  a  little 
while.  Then  Bates  caused  it  to  descend  again, 
and  Theydon  examined  the  rather  flimsy  de- 
vice which  fastened  the  panel. 

"I'm  not  what  you  might  describe  as  a 
nervous  individual,"  he  said,  at  last,  "but  it 
wouldn't  be  fair  to  your  wife  and  yourself, 
Bates,  if  I  didn't  tell  you  I  have  just  received 
an  ugly  reminder  that  the  gang  which  killed 
Mrs.  Lester  has  a  grudge  against  me  now. 
Wouldn't  it  be  a  reasonable  thing  if  we  drove 
a  couple  of  screws  into  that  door  tonight?" 

Bates  stroked  his  chin.  The  long-dormant 
spirit  of  combat  kindled  in  his  eye. 


NEW  MOVES  IN  THE  GAME      253 

" Better  still,  sir,"  he  grinned,  "let's  drive 
a  screw  into  any  one  who  comes  up  in  the 
lift." 

"But  how?" 

"By  tying  your  pistol  firmly  to  the  dresser, 
putting  it  on  a  hair-trigger — I  know  how  to 
do  that,  of  course — an'  letting  it  plug  a  bullet 
into  the  right  place  when  the  panel  is  half 
open." 

"Are  we  justified  in  taking  the  law  into  our 
own  hands'?" 

"Is  any  one  justified  in  tryin'  to  get  in  here 
an'  cut  our  throats  while  we're  asleep,  sir?" 

Theydon  weighed  the  pros  and  cons  of  this 
thesis  very  carefully.  He  dreaded  the  pos- 
sibility of  taking  a  human  life,  even  in  self- 
defense.  Yet  against  the  wretches  who  had 
strangled  Edith  Lester,  and  coolly  prepared  to 
leave  Mrs.  Forbes  to  starve  in  an  empty  house 
until  their  revengeful  scheme  was  perfected  by 
full  knowledge  of  the  identity  of  every  man  in 
China,  who  had  assisted  in  the  downfall  of  an 
effete  monarchy,  what  code  of  conduct  would 
apply  unless  it  were  that  which  holds  sway  in 
the  jungle? 

"Couldn't  we  contrive  matters  so  that  if  the 
pistol  were  fired  it  need  not  necessarily  inflict 
a  fatal  wound?"  he  said. 

"Let's  see  what  we  can  do,  sir,"  and  Bates 
set  to  work  gleefully  on  the  arrangements. 
There  was  not  the  slightest  difficulty  in  devis- 


254  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

ing  an  efficient  means  of  pressing  a  trigger 
with  a  reduced  pull  by  opening  the  door.  Any 
schoolboy  could  adjust  a  piece  of  string  to 
act  unfailingly.  By  measuring  distances,  and 
careful  sighting  of  the  pistol  when  fixed  in 
position,  they  arrived  at  a  line  of  fire  which 
would  strike  a  body  crouched  in  the  lift  about 
the  region  of  the  right  shoulder. 

Then  Bates  locked  the  scullery  door,  put  the 
key  in  his  pocket,  and  assured  his  trembling 
wife  that  she  might  sleep  like  a  top,  since  no 
bloomin'  Chinaman  could  get  at  her  that  night. 
Theydon  himself  retired  soon  afterwards.  He 
was  as  tired  as  though  he  had  been  trudging 
steadily  along  country  roads  since  daybreak. 

When  he  awoke,  it  was  broad  daylight. 
Around  the  corners  of  the  drawn  blinds  in  his 
bedroom  he  could  see  strips  of  golden  sun- 
shine. Glancing  at  a  clock  on  the  mantlepiece 
he  was  amazed  to  find  that  the  hour  was  ten 
o'clock,  so,  not  only  had  there  not  been  a  raid 
on  the  premises,  but  Bates  had  taken  the  over- 
night instructions  literally,  and  allowed  him  to 
sleep  far  beyond  the  usual  hour. 

He  rose  hurriedly,  raced  to  the  bathroom 
and  shouted  for  "breakfast  in  fifteen  min- 
utes." He  was  splashing  in  his  tub  when  the 
telephone  bell  rang,  and  Bates  answered. 
Within  a  few  seconds  the  valet  was  knock- 
ing at  the  door. 

"A  Mr.  Handyside  has  rung  up,  sir,"  was 


NEW  MOVES  IN  TEE  GAME      255 

the  announcement.  "I  think  he's  an  American. 
He  wants  to  know  if  there  is  anything  doin'. 
He  said  you  would  understand." 

"Tell  him  I'm  alive,  and  will  call  at  his 
hotel  at  11:30." 

"Yes,  sir." 

When  Bates  brought  in  the  breakfast  They- 
don  was  glancing  hurriedly  through  the  morn- 
ing papers.  Some  of  them  contained  an  allu- 
sion to  the  Eastbourne  incident,  but  no  names 
were  mentioned. 

A  reference  to  "developments"  in  connec- 
tion with  the  "Innesmore  Mansions  Murder," 
however,  caught  his  eye.  Appended  to  a  brief 
account  of  the  inquest  were  the  following 
paragraphs : 

"It  may  be  taken  as  certain  that  the  police 
are  not  altogether  at  sea  as  to  the  motive  of 
this  atrocious  crime.  Strange  as  it  may  seem 
—the  victim  being  a  young  and  attractive  lady, 
living  unostentatiously  and  taking  little,  if  any, 
part  in  the  social  life  of  London — there  is  some 
probability  that  Mrs.  Lester's  death  was  the 
outcome  of  political  revenge  rather  than  an  in- 
cident in  an  interrupted  burglary. 

"At  first,  every  indication  pointed  to  the 
act  of  some  ghoul  surprised  by  the  unfortunate 
lady  in  her  bedroom,  but  we  have  reason  to 
believe  that  graver  issues  to  the  community-at- 
large  will  be  revealed  when  Scotland  Yard's 
inquiry  is  completed.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 


256  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

that  her  husband  died  'suddenly'  some  six 
months  ago  in  Shanghai.  Oddly  enough,  the 
police  are  now  keeping  a  close  surveillance  on 
Chinese  quarters  in  London,  not  only  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  docks,  but  in  the  fashion- 
able West.  It  may,  or  may  not,  be  a  mere 
coincidence  that  a  Chinaman  was  arrested  yes- 
terday at  St.  Albans  and  lodged  in  Bow  Street. 

" There  are  not  wanting  other  similar  'coin- 
cidences' in  places  so  far  apart  as  a  well- 
known  South  Coast  seaside  resort  and  South 
Croydon.  At  present,  the  whole  matter  is 
nebulous,  but  striking  developments  may  take 
place  at  any  hour,  and  the  murder  of  Mrs. 
Lester  may  yet  figure  as  one  of  the  most  sen- 
sational crimes  of  recent  years." 

Theydon  was  reading  these  discreet  but  ex- 
ceedingly well-informed  sentences  with  much 
care,  when  he  noticed  that  Bates  had  closed 
the  sitting-room  door  before  beginning  to  ar- 
range the  contents  of  the  tray  on  the  table. 
Such  an  unusual  action  meant  something. 

''Well,  what  is  it  now?"  he  inquired,  lifting 
his  eyes  to  the  manservant's  impassive  face. 

"When  the  milkman  come  this  morning,  sir, 
he  told  me  that  a  policeman  was  found  lyin' 
insensible  on  the  road  outside  the  mansions 
shortly  after  three  o'clock,"  was  the  answer, 
conveyed  in  a  low  note  that  suggested  a  matter 
better  kept  from  the  cognizance  of  Mrs.  Bates. 

"That's  a  bad  job  for  the  policeman j  it  is 


NEW  MOVES  IN  THE  GAME      257 

nothing  very  remarkable  otherwise,"  said 
Theydon. 

"But  the  milkman  heard  he  was  set  about 
by  three  swells,  young  gentlemen  in  evening 
dress,  sir,  who  ran  away  when  another  con- 
stable appeared." 

"Very  likely.  There  was  a  row,  and  the 
law  got  the  worst  of  it.  Anyhow,  we  were  not 
disturbed  during  the  night." 

"No,  sir.  I  was  only  thinkin'  of  what  might 
have  happened  if  the  police  were  not  on  the 
job." 

"Look  here,  Bates" — and  Theydon 's  man- 
ner was  most  emphatic — "if  you  and  I  begin 
seeing  shadows  we'll  soon  collect  a  fine  show 
of  Chinese  ghosts.  I'm  astonished  at  you,  a 
man  who  has  been  under  fire." 

"Sorry,  sir.  I  thought  you'd  like  to  hear 
the  lytest,  that's  all." 

Theydon  ate  a  hearty  breakfast,  thus  prov- 
ing that  the  marvels  and  portents  of  the 
previous  day  had  not  begun  to  undermine  his 
constitution.  Finding  he  had  time,  after  at- 
tending to  his  correspondence,  to  walk  to 
Handyside's  hotel  in  the  Strand,  he  did  so. 
The  American  was  awaiting  him  at  the  end 
of  a  long,  thin  cigar. 

"Any  noos!"  said  the  Chicagoan,  after  a 
cheerful  greeting. 

"Yes.  The  feud  continues.  You  heard  about 
those  ivory  skulls  yesterday!" 


258  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"Yes,  sir.  They  reminded  me  of  the  tales 
of  my  youth." 

"Well,  I  got  mine  last  night.    Here  it  is!" 

"Gee  whiz!" 

Handy  side  took  the  small  object  which  They- 
don  produced  from  a  waistcoat  pocket.  He 
examined  it  with  minute  care. 

"I've  never  crossed  the  Pacific,"  he  said, 
after  apparently  satisfying  himself  as  to  the 
exact  nature  of  the  unpleasant  token,  "but  one 
of  my  hobbies  is  the  collection  of  ivories.  In 
my  home — " 

"21,097  Park  Avenue,"  interrupted  They- 
don. 

"Just  so — four  doors  short  of  211th  Street. 
Well,  sir,  when  you  blow  in  there  you'll  see  a 
roomful  of  curios.  I'm  not  exactly  a  connois- 
seur, but  I  know  enough  to  tell  Japanese  work 
from  Chinese.  This  was  made  by  a  Jap.  And 
that  reminds  me.  You  said  last  night  that 
Wong  Li  Fu  put  you  off  your  balance  by  a 
jiu  jitsu  trick  and  handed  that  husky  detective 
some,  too.  Very  few  Chinks  have  ever  even 
heard  of  jiu  jitsu.  I've  a  notion  that  a  bunch 
of  Japs  is  mixed  up  in  this  business." 

"Surely  not?" 

"It's  possible.  You  good  people  here  are 
crazy  in  your  treatment  of  the  Japanese.  You 
think  they're  civilized  because  they  dress  in 
good  shape,  and  can  put  up  a  mighty  spry 
imitation  of  Western  ways.  But  they  ain't. 


NEW  MOVES  IN  THE  GAME      259 

They're  the  greatest  menace  to  Europe  that 
has  yet  come  up  on  the  tape.  Do  you  believe 
they  want  China  to  wake  up  and  organize  be- 
fore they're  ready  to  take  hold?  No,  sir. 
Anyhow,  that  skull  was  carved  by  a  Japanese 
artist,  and  a  bully  good  one  at  that." 

The  two  were  standing  near  the  fireplace  of 
a  square  and  spacious  foyer.  There  were 
plenty  of  people  in  the  place,  some  conversing 
with  friends,  others  writing  or  doing  business 
at  the  various  bureaus.  It  chanced  that  They- 
don  faced  the  two  swing  doors  which  led  to 
the  street,  and  he  was  returning  the  bit  of 
ivory  to  his  pocket  when,  somewhat  to  his  sur- 
prise, Furneaux  entered. 

The  detective  saw  him,  too — of  that  he  was 
quite  certain — but  ignored  him  completely. 
After  one  sharp,  comprehensive  glance  around, 
as  though  he  were  seeking  some  one  who  was 
not  visible,  the  little  man  went  to  a  desk,  scrib- 
bled a  note,  handed  it  in  at  the  inquiry  office, 
walked  swiftly  in  the  direction  of  an  anteroom 
and  restaurant,  and  disappeared  forthwith. 

Theydon  was  puzzled  by  Furneaux 's  be- 
havior, but  was  quick  to  perceive  that  if  the 
latter  had  not  wished  to  be  left  alone  he 
would  at  least  have  made  some  sign  of  recog- 
nition. 

A  page  approached  Mr.  Handyside. 

"Note  for  you,  sir,"  he  said. 

The  American  opened  the  envelope  and  read 


260  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

a  few  lines  scribbled  on  a  sheet  of  note-paper. 
He  passed  it  to  Theydon. 

"The  circus  is  now  about  to  commence,"  he 
said,  and  the  meaning  of  this  enigmatical  re- 
mark was  made  clear  when  Theydon  saw  what 
was  written. 

"Dear  Sir,"  it  ran,  "take  Mr.  Theydon  to 
your  room.  I'll  join  you  there  immediately. — 
C.  F.  Furneaux." 

"If  this  is  the  little  sleuth  who  was  missing 
yesterday  I  guess  we've  gotten  our  call," 
commented  Handyside,  with  an  amused  grin  at 
the  expression  of  bewilderment  on  his  com- 
panion's face. 

"I  was  just  about  to  tell  you  that  Fur- 
neaux had  come  in  and  crossed  the  hall." 

"Well,  let's  beat  it  to  the  third  floor.  I  have 
the  key  in  my  pocket." 

They  were  walking  through  a  long  corridor 
when  Furneaux  appeared  at  the  other  end. 
Beyond  the  three  men,  not  another  person  was 
visible  in  that  part  of  the  hotel,  and  in  a  few 
seconds  they  were  behind  the  closed  door  of 
Handyside 's  room. 

"So  you're  still  on  the  map?"  said  the  de- 
tective, surveying  Theydon  with  an  air  of  pro- 
fessional interest. 

"Yes,  but  I  have  received  notice  to  quit," 
was  the  retort. 

"So  I  hear.  The  executioner  was  quick  on 
the  heels  of  the  warrant,  too.  If  it  had  not 


NEW  MOVES  IN  THE  GAME      261 

been  for  the  precautions  Winter  took  last  night 
the  newsboys  would  have  been  bawling  a  sec- 
ond Innesmore  Mansions  tragedy  during  the 
past  couple  of  hours." 

Theydon  smiled. 

"I'm  not  joking,"  snapped  Furneaux.  "In 
fact,  I  feel  rather  bad  about  it.  I  woke  up  at 
eight  o'clock,  and  pictured  you  and  Bates  and 
his  wife  lying  about  in  No.  18  in  very  uncom- 
fortable and  ungainly  attitudes.  I  was  so 
worried  and  miserable  that  I  telephoned  your 
hall  porter  to  learn  the  worst,  and  was  quite 
astonished  when  he  said  that  Bates  had  just 
been  chatting  with  him.  You  don't  under- 
stand, of  course.  I  forgot  to  tell  you  about 
the  lift.  Wong  Li  Fu's  special  delegate 
climbed  into  No.  17  by  that  means  and  three 
of  'em  would  have  reached  you  last  night  in 
the  same  way  if  a  policeman  hadn't  met  them 
in  the  street." 

"My  man  heard  about  the  row.  He  guessed, 
too,  that  it  had  something  to  do  with  us. 
The  policeman  was  badly  injured,  he  was 
told." 

"Yes — nothing  broken;  he  was  put  to  sleep 
by  some  confounded  Japanese  wrestling 
trick." 

"Japanese,  you  say?" 

"Precisely.  The  Young  Manchus  are  being 
backed  up  by  a  second  gang  which  calls  itself 
the  'Sons  of  Nippon.'  I  don't  know  what 


262  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

London  is  coming  to.  We've  entertained  An- 
archists, Nihilists  and  Dynamitards  for  years. 
Now  we  have  the  Yellow  Peril  with  us.  I  wish 

1  were  King  for  a  few  days.    There  would  be 
a  bigger  clearance  of  reptiles  out  of  England 
than  St.  Patrick  made  in  Ireland." 

"Mr.  Handyside  here  told  me  only  ten  min- 
utes since  that  he  was  convinced  there  were 
Japs  in  league  with  the  Chinese." 

"How  did  you  know?"  and  Furneaux 
whirled  round  on  the  American  instantly. 

"By  using  the  gray  matter  at  the  back  of 
my  head,"  was  the  reply.  "No  Chink  ever 
taught  Wong  Li  Fu  how  to  put  away  two 
chesty  individuals  like  Mr.  Theydon  and  your 
partner,  Mr.  Winter.  But  I  couldn't  be 
sure  till  I  had  seen  the  ivory  skull.  Then  I 
knew." 

"So  did  I  know  yesterday  morning,"  said 
Furneaux,  "and  a  deuce  of  a  time  the  dis- 
covery gave  me.  Anyhow,  the  street  fight  out- 
side Innesmore  Mansions  at  daybreak  today 
settles  the  matter.  There  were  two  Japanese 
and  one  Chinaman.  The  Japs  outed  the 
policeman.  Fortunately  he  and  another  man 
made  a  five-minute  point  at  each  end  of  the 
mansions,  and,  as  No.  1  failed  to  turn  up,  No. 

2  went  to  look  for  him.     He  saw  the  end  of 
the  row,  and  ran  to  help,  blowing  his  whistle 
for  assistance.     Unfortunately  for  us,  two  of 
•the  three  confounded  blackguards  escaped." 


NEW  MOVES  IN  THE  GAME      263 

"0,  you've  got  one,  then?"  cried  Theydon. 

"Yes,  a  Jap.  The  constable  was  wise  enough 
to  give  him  the  point  of  his  truncheon  in  the 
gullet,  and  that  settled  him." 

"I  wonder  if  he  is  the  one  who  would  have 
been  shot  had  he  broken  into  my  flat,"  said 
Theydon  musingly. 

"Shot!  Man  alive,  you'd  never  have  heard 
him!" 

"Not  till  he  had  a  bullet  lodged  securely  in 
his  inside,  it  is  true.  Bates  and  I  surveyed 
that  lift  last  night,  Mr.  Furneaux,  and  re- 
garded it  as  the  weak  part  of  our  defenses, 
so  we  arranged  that  an  automatic  pistol  should 
live  up  to  its  name,  and  fire  at  any  one  who 
opened  the  sliding  panel." 

"Did  you  now?"  said  Furneaux  admiringly. 
"Whose  brainy  idea  was  that — yours  or 
Bates 's?" 

"A  joint  effort,'-'  he  said,  with  a  self- 
satisfied  smile. 

"Well,  I'm  glad  it  didn't  come  off.  British 
law  is  a  fearsome  and  wonderful  thing.  You 
might  both  have  got  ten  years  for  fixing  a 
man-trap,  to  wit,  a  lethal  engine.  However, 
during  the  next  few  days  you're  going  to 
change  your  abode.  Tell  Bates  and  his  wife 
that  they  need  a  holiday,  and  ought  to  visit 
relatives  in  Yorkshire  or  North  Wales.  Pack 
what  you  need  for  a  week,  at  least,  and  make 
straight  for  Fortescue  Square." 


264  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"Are  you  joking?"  said  Theydon,  genuinely 
astounded. 

"Do  I  look  it?"  And,  indeed,  the  detective 
did  not.  "  Winter  has  just  settled  that  pro- 
gram with  Mr.  Forbes.  You  see,  you're  in  this 
affair  now,  neck  and  crop,  and  it's  easier  for 
us  to  safeguard  one  place  than  two.  You're 
pleased,  aren't  you?  Doesn't  a  pretty  girl 
live  there?" 

"Sir,"  said  Handyside,  "he's  tickled  to 
death,  and  that's  a  fact.  I'm  the  only  one  to 
make  a  kick.  I  kind  of  reckoned  on  being 
allowed  to  play  a  walking-on  part  in  this 
drama,  but  I  look  like  being  cut  out  in  the 
new  shuffle." 

"I  can  make  use  of  you,"  said  Purneaux 
promptly.  "You've  seen  Wong  Li  Fu,  and 
would  know  him  again?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"And  you  can  tell  a  Japanese  from  a  China- 
man at  sight?" 

"Yes^  sir." 

"Good.  You're  enrolled.  Next  thing  you'll 
be  receiving  an  ivory  skull,  too.  These  beg- 
gars are  the  smartest  crowd  I've  .come  across 
in  twenty  years.  I  think  they  would  have 
beaten  us  if  it  hadn't  happened  that  Mr.  They- 
don and  you,  each  of  you  strangers  to  the 
Forbes  family,  were  selected  by  fate  to  inter- 
vene at  psychological  moments.  The  Young 
Manchus  and  their  allies  had  the  ground  sur- 


NEW  MOVES  IN  THE  GAME      265 

veyed  thoroughly.  They  even  had  us  of  the 
Yard  marked  down.  Oh,  it's  a  plot  and  a  half, 
I  can  assure  you,  and  the  worst  thing  is  that 
the  real  struggle  is  yet  ahead.  All  that  has 
happened  before  is  mere  skirmishing  compared 
with  what's  to  come." 

"Is  that  why  you  covered  up  your  tracks, 
even  in  this  hotel,  before  you  came  to  my 
room?"  inquired  Handyside. 

"It  is,  and  let  me  tell  you  that  you're  a 
living  example  of  a  contradiction  in  terms. 
You  use  your  brains,  Mr.  Handyside,  yet  you 
smoke  a  cigar  calculated  to  atrophy  the  keen- 
est intellect.  You,  an  American,  chewing  a 
vile  Burmese  Cheroot!  Ore  nom  d'un  pipe! 
When  this  bubble  has  burst  I  must  reason  with 
you ! ' ' 


CHAPTER  XIV 


FURNEATJX,  with  that  phenomenally  clear 
mind  of  his,  had  perceived  and  expressed  in 
one  trenchant  sentence  the  outstanding  and  al- 
most unique  feature  of  the  tragic  mystery 
which  centered  around  the  death  of  Edith  Les- 
ter. Theydon's  connection  with  either  inter- 
national finance  or  the  rebirth  of  China  was 
remote  as  that  of  the  man  in  the  moon.  Yet 
he  had  been  pitchforked  by  fate  into  an  active 
and,  indeed,  dominating  influence  over  those 
phases  of  both  undertakings  which  were  pe- 
culiar to  London. 

Theydon  mused  on  this  element  in  an  un- 
precedented situation  as  he  sat  in  the  taxi- 
cab  which  bore  him  swiftly  to  Innesmore  Man- 
sions. Another  quite  abnormal  condition  was 
the  ignorance  of  London  with  regard  to  the 
fierce  struggle  now  being  waged  in  its  midst. 

On  the  one  hand,  a  few  Oriental  fanatics- 
most  of  whom  were  probably  less  swayed  by 
racial  enthusiasm  than  by  good  payment  for 
services  rendered — were  carrying  out  the  or- 
ders of  a  master  criminal  with  a  sublime  in- 

266 


WHEREIN  THETDON  SUFFERS    267 

difference  to  the  laws  framed  by  the  "foreign 
devils"  whom  they  despised;  on  the  other 
were  ranged  the  three  members  of  the  Forbes 
family  and  Theydon  himself,  supported  by  the 
forces  of  the  Crown,  it  was  true,  but  singu- 
larly isolated  from  the  knowledge  and  sym- 
pathy of  their  fellow-citizens. 

Miss  Beale  hardly  counted.  The  servants 
in  Fortescue  Square  shared  with  Bates  and 
his  wife  a  sort  of  territorial  interest  in  the 
fight.  When  Fortune  picked  an  occasional 
warrior  for  the  fray  she  chose  a  man  from 
Chicago,  a  motorcyclist  from  Eastbourne,  a 
policeman  in  Charing  Cross  road. 

How  portentous  had  been  that  hand  raised 
to  stem  the  traffic  at  a  congested  corner  on  the 
Monday  night!  Into  what  a  vortex  of  crime 
and  passion  had  it  not  pointed,  all  unknowing! 
Jf  the  cab  in  which  Theydon  was  hurrying 
home  from  Daly's  Theater  had  not  been  de- 
layed by  the  dispute  between  driver  and  police- 
man, he  would  never  have  known  that  the  mil- 
lionaire visited  Innesmore  Mansions,  and  the 
subsequent  course  of  the  night's  history  might 
have  left  him  wholly  unaffected. 

Then  his  wayward  thoughts  took  to  brood- 
ing on  the  gray  car  which  shadowed  him  from 
Waterloo  to  Fortescue  Square,  and  again  from 
the  square  to  his  own  abode.  If  it  held  some 
member  of  the  Embassy  staff,  why  had  no 
more  been  heard  of  it?  And  what  had  Win- 


268  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

ter  and  Furneaux  meant  by  hinting  that  far 
wider  issues  were  bound  up  with  the  affair 
than  the  authorities  were  yet  at  liberty  to 
divulge?  The  attack  on  Forbes,  sinister  and 
malevolent  in  its  scope  and  purpose,  was, 
in  a  sense,  open  warfare.  But  it  was  im- 
possible to  guess  what  part,  if  any,  the  official 
representatives  of  China  filled  in  the  fray. 
Were  they  active  allies  of  Scotland  Yard  or 
did  they  hold  what  is  known  in  the  law  courts 
as  a  watching  brief?  He  could  not  tell. 
He  only  knew  that  each  successive  period  of 
twenty-four  hours  broadened  the  area  covered 
by  the  struggle,  and  there,  at  least,  he  found 
solid  backing  for  the  little  detective's  demand 
that  the  threatened  people  should  dwell  under 
one  roof.  His  pulses  quickened  at  the  notice 
that  this  new  departure  implied  constant  asso- 
ciation with  Evelyn  Forbes.  Yet,  what  did  it 
avail?  Why  should  he  dream  of  fanning  into 
a  fiercer  fury  the  flame  of  his  love?  As  mat- 
ters stood,  he  had  about  as  much  chance  of 
marrying  Evelyn  Forbes  as  of  becoming  Em- 
peror of  China! 

The  incongruity  of  the  situation  was  illus- 
trated with  cruel  accuracy  by  the  fact  that  he 
could  ill  afford  the  stoppage  of  his  work  de- 
manded by  the  present  trend  of  events.  He 
earned  what  might  be  regarded  as  a  good  in- 
come by  his  pen,  but  his  expenses  were  not 
light,  and  he  had  deemed  himself  fortunate  the 


WHEREIN  THEYDON  SUFFERS    269 

previous  year  when  he  was  able  to  invest  a 
hundred  pounds! 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  interest  on  his 
"securities"  paid  for  his  gloves  and  ties;  an- 
other lucky  year  might  see  him  provided  for 
life  with  boots  and  socks!  He  pictured  him- 
self— if  he  were  idiot  enough,  when  all  this 
turmoil  was  ended,  to  pose  as  a  suitor  for 
Evelyn  Forbes 's  hand — explaining  his  finan- 
cial position  to  the  millionaire,  and  wilting 
under  the  scornful  amusement  in  those  earn- 
est, deep-seeing  eyes.  Phew!  He  grew  hot  at 
the  mere  notion  of  such  folly. 

Little  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  driver  of 
the  taxi  should  gaze  quizzically  after  They- 
don's  alert  figure  as  it  vanished  in  the  stair- 
way of  Innesmore  Mansions. 

"Got  the  hump,  an*  pretty  bad,'*  solilo- 
quized the  man.  "Gimme  a  bob  over  the 
fare,  an'  all,  so  can't  be  stony.  But  Lord 
love  a  duck,  you  never  can  tell!" 

Theydon  was  about  to  unlock  the  door  of  his 
flat  when  it  opened  in  his  face,  and  his  sister 
nearly  collided  with  him.  She  screamed 
slightly,  a  certain  quality  of  alarm  in  her  ex- 
clamation merging  instantly  into  joyful  recog- 
nition. 

"So  you  have  come  home!"  she  cried.  "My 
goodness!  What  a  fright  you've  given  me!" 

"Why?"  he  said,  with  a  reassuring  and 
brotherly  hug. 


270      ,      NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

''I've  had  horrid  dreams.  I  couldn't  rest 
all  last  night  for  thinking  of  you." 

"Is  George  absent?"  George  was  her  hus- 
band, a  consulting  engineer,  whose  profes- 
sional duties  often  took  him  to  distant  parts  of 
the  country. 

"Yes." 

"Then  you  and  Miss  Beale  have  been  living 
on  tea  and  scraps.  Really,  Mollie,  I  credited 
you  with  more  sense.  Tell  me  what  you  ate 
last  night,  and  I'll  diagnose  your  dreams." 

"We  dined  at  a  first-class  restaurant  in  the 
West  End,"  said  Mrs.  Paxton  indignantly. 
"It  would  be  much  more  to  the  point  if  you 
explained  how  you  have  been  living  the  past 
few  days.  I  have  not  been  so  worried  about 
anything  since  George  was  trapped  in  that 
horrid  mine." 

Mollie  was  on  the  verge  of  tears.  Her  bro- 
ther resolved  instantly  to  minimize  matters, 
or  she  would  fret  more  than  ever  on  his  ac- 
count. 

"Now,  look  here,  old  girl,"  he  said,  meeting 
her  critical  glance  steadily.  "Miss  Beale  has 
been  putting  absurd  notions  into  that  stylish 
little  head  of  yours.  By  the  way,  is  that  the 
latest  thing  in  hats?  It  suits  you  admirably." 

Mrs.  Paxton  smiled,  though  her  eyes  were 
glistening  suspiciously. 

"You  can't  humbug  me,  Frank,  so  please 
don't  try,"  she  protested.  "Why  are  you 


WHEREIN  THEYDON  SUFFERS    271 

mixed  up  in  this  dreadful  business?  Why  are 
you  constantly  meeting  detectives?  Why  did 
you  rush  off  to  Eastbourne  yesterday?  When 
did  you  become  acquainted  with  this  Mr. 
Forbes?  Have  you  seen  his  daughter?" 

Theydon  was  at  least  sufficiently  well  versed 
in  the  peculiarities  of  the  feminine  tempera- 
ment to  know  that  he  would  be  safe  in  answer- 
ing the  last  question  first. 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "I  have  seen  a  good  deal 
of  Miss  Forbes  recently.  Have  you  ever  met 
her?" 

"She  was  at  the  horse  show  last  year  with 
Lady  de  Winton's  party.  She's  an  awfully 
pretty  girl,  and  will  be  worth  millions,  I  sup- 
pose. Some  one  said  that  young  de  Winton 
was  simply  crazy  about  her,  but  he  looks  such 
a  sloppy  youth  that  I  could  hardly  imagine 
those  two  getting  married.  Of  course,  there's 
the  title,  yet  a  title  is  not  everything." 

Young  de  Winton!  Theydon  had  not  even 
been  aware  hitherto  of  the  existence  of  a 
marriageable  scion  of  that  noble  house. 

"That  particular  young  spark  has  not  been 
in  evidence  during  the  past  few  days  at  any 
rate,"  he  commented,  and  his  voice  was  not  so 
nonchalant  as  he  imagined,  because  Mrs.  Pax- 
ton  looked  up  quickly. 

"Perhaps  it  was  only  idle  gossip,"  she 
said.  "Is  Miss  Forbes  a  nice  girl  to  talk  to? 
She  struck  me  as  being  very  animated." 


272  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

11  Animated" — while  in  the  company  of  that 
undoubted  oaf,  de  Winton!  Theydon  choked 
back  something  tinged  with  gall  as  he  replied 
quietly : 

"She  could  not  well  help  being  highly  in- 
telligent. Her  father  and  mother  are  charm- 
ing people.  I  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Forbes 
owing  to  a  mazagine  commission  to  write  an 
article  about  his  interest  in  aviation.  Now 
you  see  how  promptly  even  the  most  gorgeous 
bubble  bursts  when  it  impinges  against  a  solid 
little  fact.  As  it  happens,  Mr.  Forbes  and  I 
will  have  so  much  in  common  during  the  next 
day  or  two  that  I  am  now  going  to  stay  with 
him.  I  came  here  to  pack  a  portmanteau.  If 
you'll  be  a  good  little  girl  and  listen  while  I'm 
at  the  telephone  you  will  hear  all  about  it." 

The  words  were  no  sooner  uttered  than  he 
wanted  to  recall  them.  It  would  be  no  easy 
matter  to  discuss  Furneaux's  suggestion  with 
any  one  in  Fortescue  Square  without  letting 
his  sister  into  the  secret  that  the  visit  was 
necessitated  by  considerations  of  his  own  per- 
sonal safety. 

Mrs.  Paxton's  eyes  were  sparkling  with  a 
new  interest. 

"I  had  no  idea  you  were  on  terms  of  such 
intimacy  with  the  family,"  she  cried.  "Don't 
tell  me,  Frank,  that  your  flights  have  taken 
you  to  the  elevated  region  in  which  million- 
aires' daughters  figure  as  possible  brides!" 


WHEREIN  THEYDON  SUFFERS    273 

"Now  you  are  making  me  out  a  Mormon," 
and  Theydon  grinned  fiercely. 

"You  know  what  I  mean.  This  Miss 
Forbes — by  the  way,  what  is  her  Christian 
name  ? ' ' 

"Let  me  see.  I  think  I  have  heard  it.  Doris, 
is  it,  or  Phyllis?  No,  I  remember  now — Eve- 
lyn." 

"0,  then,  if  you  are  so  vague  on  that  point 
I  suppose  I  must  reconcile  myself  to  owning 
a  bachelor  brother  again." 

He  shook  his  head  at  her. 

"Ah,  you  women!"  he  said.  "Yet  I  used 
to  regard  you  as  quite  a  sensible  person, 
Mollie!  Now,  how  in  the  name  of  goodness 
could  I  possibly  entertain  any  notion  of  marry- 
ing the  only  daughter  of  a  man  in  Forbes 's 
position?" 

"It  all  depends,"  was  the  illogical  but  crush- 
ing retort.  "There  are  plenty  of  millionaires' 
daughters  whom  I  would  not  regard  as  good 
enough  for  my  brother.  And,  let  me  tell  you, 
the  family  is  making  progress.  A  little  bird 
whispered  the  other  day  that  George's  name 
will  appear  in  the  next  list  of  honors.  He  is 
to  receive  a  knighthood." 

It  was  not  new  to  Theydon  to  learn  that 
his  brother-in-law  stood  in  high  favor  with  the 
Government,  because  Paxton  had  been  ap- 
pointed on  two  Royal  Commissions  with  ref- 
erence to  mining  regulations,  but  he  affected 


274  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

a  surprised  incredulity  as  offering  a  way  of 
escape  from  an  inquisition  which  he  dreaded. 

"Dear  me!"  he  smirked. 

Therein  he  erred.  His  sister  gave  him  a 
puzzled  glance. 

"You  are  not  yourself  today,  Frank,"  she 
said  dubiously.  "You  are  acting.  For  whose 
benefit?  Not  mine,  surely!" 

"If  your  prospective  ladyship  will  pardon 
me  I  will  now  go  to  the  telephone,"  he  coun- 
tered. 

Anything,  even  a  mad  jumble  of  incoherence 
in  his  talk  with  the  Forbes  household,  was  bet- 
ter than  the  troubled  scrutiny  of  those  clear 
brown  eyes.  Leaving  the  door  open  so  that 
his  sister  could  hear  his  side  of  the  conver- 
sation, he  rang  up  No.  11  Fortescue  Square. 

The  butler  answered. 

"That  you,  Tomlinson?"  said  Theydon. 
"Will  you  ask  Mr.  Forbes  if  I  am  to  turn  up 
in  time  for  afternoon  tea?  If  it  is  more  con- 
venient that  I  should  arrive  later  I  have  lots 
of  things  to  attend  to,  and  can  fill  in  a  few 
hours  easily." 

"I  really  don't  know  what  to  say,  sir," 
came  the  astounding  answer.  "Mrs.  Forbes 
has  been  shot — " 

1 '  Great  heavens ! ' ' 

"Yes,  sir.  She  was  merely  looking  out 
through  the  drawing-room  window,  when  some 
one  fired  at  her  from  a  passing  motor  car." 


WHEREIN  THEYDON  SUFFERS    275 

"Do  you  mean  that  she  is  dead!" 

"No,  sir — not  quite  so  bad  as  that.  The 
bullet  struck  her  left  shoulder.  A  few  inches 
lower  and  it  would  have  pierced  her  heart. 
The  doctors  are  with  her  now.  I — " 

Some  interruption  took  place  on  the  line  and 
the  butler's  voice  ceased.  Theydon,  careless 
now  as  to  what  construction  his  sister  might 
place  on  his  words,  was  about  to  storm  at  the 
exchange  for  cutting  the  communication.  He 
meant  to  say  that  on  no  consideration  would 
he  inflict  the  presence  of  a  stranger  at  such  a 
terrible  moment,  when  a  coldly  metallic,  al- 
most harsh  question  reached  him. 

"That  you,  Theydon?" 

"Yes,"  he  said.     Forbes  was  speaking. 

"I  was  crossing  the  hall,  and  guessed  it 
might  be  you.  Come  as  soon  as  you  are  at 
liberty.  You  will  be  welcome.  If  we  are  to 
be  besieged  I  want  some  one  who  will  not  be 
afraid  to  shoot.  These  policemen  are  too 
scrupulous.  They  saw  some  cursed  Mongol 
leaning  out  through  the  window  of  the  closed 
car,  and  could  have  either  shot  him  or  put  a 
bullet  so  close  that  his  aim  would  have  been 
disturbed.  As  it  was,  my  wife  only  escaped 
death  by  the  mercy  of  Providence.  She  bent 
slightly  at  the  very  instant  the  would-be  assas- 
sin fired,  and  the  bullet  simply  lacerated  her 
shoulder.  After  this,  I'll  defend  myself  and 
my  womenfolk,  but  I  need  at  least  one. 


276  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

other    man    whom    I    can    trust.      Will    you 
come?" 

"I'll  be  with  you  within  twenty  minutes." 

He  heard  the  clang  of  the  receiver  being 
replaced  on  its  rest  at  the  other  end  of  the 
wire.  Somehow,  the  sound  conveyed  a  new 
determination  on  Forbes 's  part.  He  had  his 
back  to  the  wall.  No  matter  what  view  the 
law  took  of  his  action  subsequently,  he  would 
protect  his  dear  ones  at  all  hazards. 

After  that,  Theydon  hesitated  no  longer. 

11  Bates,"  he  cried,  " throw  into  a  bag  such 
clothes  as  I  shall  need  for  a  few  days'  stay 
in  Mr.  Forbes 's  house.  When  I  am  gone,  pack 
your  own  boxes  and  take  a  week's  holiday. 
Go  anywhere  you  like,  out  of  London,  but  go 
at  once.  Send  me  your  address,  care  of  Mr. 
Forbes,  and  I'll  let  you  know  when  I  want 
you  again." 

"If  it's  a  matter  of  holdin'  out  against 
them—" 

Bates  intended  making  a  declaration  of  war, 
but  his  employer  broke  in  emphatically. 

"I  want  you  to  obey  my  orders  fully  and 
unquestionably,"  he  said.  Bates  promptly  be- 
came the  well-trained  valet  once  more. 

"Yes,  sir,"  he  said.  "Your  portmanteau 
will  be  ready  in  ten  minutes.  Half  an  hour 
later  me  an'  Mrs.  Bates  will  leave  for  my  cou- 
sin's place  in  Hampshire." 

Theydon  returned  to  the  sitting  room.    His 


WHEREIN  THEYDON  SUFFERS    277 

sister's  face  was  white  with  fear,  but  he  threw 
restraint  to  the  winds. 

"Mollie,"  he  said,  placing  his  hands  on  her 
shoulders,  "you  are  very  dear  to  me,  but  there 
is  one  woman  in  the  world  who,  if  fate  proves 
kind,  may  yet  be  dearer.  She  is  in  danger. 
If  some  one  said  that  of  you  to  your  husband, 
what  would  he  do?" 

She  kissed  him  with  tremulous  lips.  "He 
would  act  just  as  you  are  going  to  act,"  she 
said.  "But,  dear,  can't  you  trust  me?  I  can- 
not help,  perhaps,  but  I  can  pray  for  you." 

"Well,  then,  Sis,  I  won't  fence  with  you 
any  longer.  There's  a  sort  of  feud  between 
Mr.  Forbes  and  a  faction  in  China.  He  helped 
the  reformers  financially,  and  some  supporters 
of  the  dethroned  dynasty  are  trying  to  compel 
him  by  force  to  give  them  a  list  of  the  prom- 
inent men  who  control  the  revolution.  If  he 
yields,  it  means  that  nearly  a  hundred  lead- 
ing men  in  China — men  whose  only  thought 
is  the  welfare  and  progress  of  their  country- 
will  be  ruthlessly  murdered.  If  he  continues 
to  refuse,  his  own  life  and  the  lives  of  his  wife 
and  daughter  are  at  stake.  These  fiends  killed 
Mrs.  Lester  within  a  few  feet  of  this  very 
room.  They  killed  her  husband  six  months 
ago.  They  tried  to  kidnap  Evelyn  Forbes  yes- 
terday, and  succeeded,  for  a  while,  in  carrying 
off  her  mother,  their  plan  being  to  torture  one 
or  both,  even  unto  death.  Heaven  help  me,  I 


278  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

love  Evelyn  Forbes,  and  I  would  count  my  life 
well -spent  if  I  died  in  defending  her.  Should 
anything  happen  to  me  and  she  is  spared,  tell 
her  that,  will  you — and  my  spirit  will  thank 
you. ' ' 

1  'We  must  not  think  of  death,  but  of  life," 
was  the  brave  answer.  ''Can  I  do  anything! 
Could  George  assist  if  he  were  here?" 

"No,  Mollie.  Perhaps  I  am  exaggerating 
matters,  though  the  history  of  this  week  would 
make  strange  reading  if  published  broadcast. 
Indeed  I  shall  now  urge  on  Mr.  Forbes  the  ad- 
visability of  sending  the  facts  to  the  press. 
London  would  be  stirred  to  its  depths,  and 
every  -one  of  its  citizens  would  be  quick  to 
observe  and  report  the  presence  of  Chinamen 
or  Japanese  in  the  West  End.  Some  innocent 
Orientals  would  suffer,  but  the  police  might 
at  least  be  enabled  to  capture  the  pestiferous 
gang  which  has  committed  this  latest  outrage. 
Just  think  of  some  cold-blooded  scoundrel 
shooting  at  a  sweet-mannered  and  gentle  lady 
like  Mrs.  Forbes!" 

"Surely  the  authorities  can  protect  her." 

"That  is  the  wild  absurdity  of  the  position. 
Of  course,  you  didn't  hear  what  Mr.  Forbes 
said.  The  armed  detectives  on  duty  in  his 
house  actually  saw  the  Chinaman  who  fired  the 
shot  which  wounded  her,  leaning  out  through 
the  window  of  a  closed  car.  But  they  cannot 
blaze  away  at  any  passer-by  merely  because 


WHEREIN  THEYDON  SUFFERS    279 

he  is,  or  resembles,  an  Asiatic.  What  they 
dare  not  do,  however,  he  and  I  will  endeavor 
cheerfully.  Bates!" 

"Yes,  sir,"  came  the  cry  from  a  bedroom. 

"If  you  are  packing  two  bags,  put  that  pis- 
tol and  a  box  of  cartridges  in  the  smaller  one. ' ' 

"Yes,  sir." 

Mrs.  Paxton  at  this  crisis  proved  herself  a 
woman  of  spirit. 

"I  think  you're  right,  Frank,"  she  said 
quietly.  "I  refuse  to  believe  that  any  British 
court  of  justice  would  blame  any  man  for  de- 
fending the  lives  of  his  wife  and  daughter, 
nor  you  for  helping  him.  If  the  peacefully 
disposed  Chinese  residents  in  London  wish  to 
avoid  risk  let  them  keep  away  from  No.  11 
Fortescue  Square.  May  I  come  with  you?" 

"You,  Mollie?" 

He  looked  at  her  with  troubled  eyes.  For 
the  moment  such  was  the  fire  in  his  brain  he 
did  not  understand. 

She  laughed  gallantly. 

"I  don't  mean  as  one  of  the  garrison,"  she 
said.  "May  I  not  make  the  acquaintance  of 
these  people?  Sometimes,  the  mere  knowledge 
that  others  are  aware  of  one's  troubles  and 
sympathize  with  one  is  comforting.  Miss  Beale 
is  not  expecting  me  till  tea  time.  I  told  her 
I  might  lunch  with  you.  Indeed,  I  promised  to 
call  at  her  hotel  for  her  letters,  and  that  is 
halfway  on  your  road." 


280  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

"You're  a  brick,  Mollie,"  said  her  brother. 
"I  do  believe  Evelyn  Forbes  will  be  glad  to 
see  you.  The  most  amazing  thing  about  this 
affair  is  that  none  of  the  many  friends  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Forbes  and  their  daughter  must  possess 
in  London  has  the  slightest  inkling  of  the 
truth.  I  suppose  the  servants  are  instructed 
to  tell  ordinary  callers  that  the  various  mem- 
bers of  the  family  are  out,  or  some  of  them 
indisposed,  or  something  of  the  sort.  .  .  . 
But  come  along!  I  hear  Bates  banging  my 
belongings  into  the  passage.  I'm  in  a  fever 
to  be  there  and  taking  part  in  the  row." 

Soon  they  were  seated  in  a  taxi  and  speeding 
to  Smith's  Hotel,  Jermyn  Street. 

"Have  you  invited  Miss  Beale  to  reside 
with  you  while  she  is  in  London,  Sis  I"  said 
Theydon,  allowing  his  thoughts  to  dwell 
for  a  moment  on  the  less  tragic  side  of 
events. 

"Yes.  What  else  could  I  do?  Poor  thing, 
she  was  terrified  at  the  notion  of  sleeping 
under  the  same  roof  as  a  Chinaman." 

"I  don't  blame  her.  But  there's  a  certain 
element  of  risk  for  you,  Mollie — " 

"Oh,  bother!  Don't  tell  me  that  a  few 
Chinamen  can  threaten  all  London." 

Yet  even  the  valiant-hearted  Mrs.  Paxton 
yielded  to  the  haunting  terror  of  the  bandits 
when  the  taxi  drew  in  behind  a  gray  car  al- 
ready standing  at  the  curb  outside  Smith's 


WHEREIN  THEYDON  SUFFERS    281 

Hotel,  and  her  brother  grasped  her  wrist  in 
sudden  warning. 

"Sit  still,"  he  said.  "Now  we  may  get  on 
the  track  of  some  of  the  gang.  That  is  the 
car  which  followed  me  on  Monday  night." 

His  sister,  of  course,  did  not  understand. 
She  had  heard  nothing  of  the  pursuit  and  its 
curious  sequel. 

"Do  you  mean  it  is  one  of  the  cars  which 
these  men  use!"  she  whispered  breathlessly. 

"Yes.  I'll  explain  later.  But  what  im- 
pudence! The  scoundrels  have  not  even 
changed  the  number  plate." 

Unquestionably,  the  number  of  the  gray 
landaulet  now  within  a  few  feet  of  them  was 
XY  1314.  Theydon  stooped,  opened  a  dressing 
case  lying  at  his  feet,  and  took  out  the  auto- 
matic pistol  placed  there  by  Bates.  He  put 
it  in  the  right-hand  pocket  of  his  coat. 

"Now,  I'll  reconnoiter,"  he  said,  and  opened 
the  door.  The  taxi  driver  was  already  gazing 
curiously  in  at  his  fares,  wondering  why  one 
or  both  did  not  alight. 

"Be  ready  to  start  the  instant  I  want  you," 
said  Theydon  to  the  man,  and  he  strolled  past 
the  gray  car,  with  every  sense  alert,  every 
muscle  braced.  If  Wong  Li  Fu  were  seated 
inside  he  would  cover  him  with  the  pistol  and 
hold  him  there  until  the  police  came,  or  shoot 
him  dead  if  he  offered  any  resistance. 

Fortunately,  therefore,  all  things  considered, 


282  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

the  interior  of  the  car  was  absolutely  empty, 
save  for  a  copy  of  the  Times  on  the  back 
seat.  Even  the  presence  of  the  newspaper 
was  significant.  In  that  issue  should  have 
appeared  Forbes 's  reply  to  "Y.  M."  which 
Furneaux  had  suppressed  as  unnecessary. 

There  was  a  chauffeur  at  the  wheel — no 
Chinaman,  but  a  tightly-buttoned  and  black- 
legginged  young  Englishman — in  fact,  the  real 
thing  in  chauffeurs. 

"Whose  car  is  this?"  demanded  Theydon. 

"It  belongs  to  the  Chinese  Embassy,  sir," 
said  the  man,  answering  civilly  enough,  but 
not  unnaturally  showing  some  surprise  at  the 
curt  question. 

"Are  you  waiting  here  for  some  official  of 
the  Embassy?"  went  on  Theydon. 

"Not  exactly,  sir,  some  friends  of  His  Ex- 
cellency." The  man  glanced  toward  the  door 
of  the  hotel.  "Here  they  are  now,"  he  added. 

Theydon  turned.  Two  Chinamen,  sedate, 
pig-tailed  persons,  were  descending  the  steps. 
With  them  was  Furneaux!  One  of  the  Orien- 
tals gave  Theydon  a  rather  sharp  glance,  hav- 
ing noticed,  apparently,  that  he  was  conversing 
with  the  chauffeur,  but  Furneaux,  after  a 
stonily  indifferent  stare,  said  to  the  second 
Chinaman,  in  plain  English : 

"Do  you  mind  dropping  me  at  Scotland 
Yard?" 

"With  pleasure,"  was  the  composed  reply. 


WHEREIN  THEYDON  SUFFERS    283 

The  three  entered,  and  the  gray  car  made 
off,  leaving  Theydon  to  gaze  blankly  after  it. 
His  sister,  though  badly  scared  at  first,  quickly 
recovered  her  self-possession.  She  even  made 
a  joke  of  the  incident. 

"As  an  anti-climax,  Frank,  that  is  the  best 
thing  of  its  kind  you  have  ever  brought  off," 
she  tittered. 


CHAPTER  XV 

FORCEFUL   TACTICS 

THOUGH  a  prey  to  that  most  burthensome 
of  cares — the  uneasy  consciousness  of  an  im- 
palpable yet  ever-threatening  evil — Theydon 
was  not  blind  to  the  humorous  element  in  the 
present  situation.  Mrs.  Paxton,  of  course, 
did  not  know  who  the  little  man  accompany- 
ing the  Chinamen  was. 

She  had  seen  her  brother  stalk  the  motor 
car  and  its  presumed  occupants  in  the  most 
approved  melodramatic  fashion,  and  could  not 
help  noticing  his  complete  discomfiture.  Nat- 
urally she  imagined  he  had  encountered  a  pair 
of  perfectly  harmless  citizens  of  the  Middle 
Kingdom,  and,  being  one  of  those  happy  be- 
ings more  readily  swayed  to  laughter  than  to 
tears,  rallied  him  upon  an  apparent  blunder. 

4 'Never  before  have  I  discovered  a  neurotic 
streak  in  you,  Frank/'  she  said,  after  she  had 
obtained  a  couple  of  letters  for  Miss  Beale, 
and  they  were  en  route  again.  "  Come  now, 
confess.  If  Evelyn  Forbes — or,  let  me  see,  is 
it  Phyllis  or  Doris?  No,  Evelyn.  If  Evelyn 
Forbes,  then,  did  not  happen  to  be  a  remark- 
ably pretty  girl,  would  you  really  attach  such 

284 


FORCEFUL  TACTICS  285 

terrific  importance  to  the  mad  goings-on  of  a 
set  of  Chinese  fanatics?  I  doubt  it." 

The  cab  was  threading  its  way  through  the 
traffic  of  St.  James  Street  and  Piccadilly  on  a 
busy  afternoon  in  the  season,  and  Theydon  had 
much  to  tell  her  before  they  arrived  at  Fortes- 
cue  Square,  but  he  sat  by  her  side  in  silence 
for  a  little  while. 

"Frank,"  said  his  sister,  at  last,  "it  is  not 
like  you  to  seek  refuge  in  silence.  I'm  sorry 
if  my  chaff  annoyed  you.  Don't  forget  that 
you  know  everything  about  this  mysterious 
business,  and  I  know  very  little." 

Her  sympathetic  voice  roused  him  from  the 
stupor  which  had  benumbed  his  senses. 

"I  allowed  imagination  to  run  away  with 
me,  Sis,"  he  said  gently.  "It  was  thoughtless 
on  my  part.  Please  forgive  me.  I  suppose 
those  two  Chinamen  are  unofficially  connected 
with  the  Embassy.  At  any  rate,  the  man  with 
them,  the  little  man  in  a  blue  serge  suit  and 
straw  hat,  is  Furneaux  of  Scotland  Yard,  a 
pocket  marvel  among  detectives,  the  sort  of 
criminal-hunter  you  read  about  in  Gaboriau, 
but  can  scarcely  accept  as  existing  in  real 
life." 

From  that  instant  he  bent  his  wits  to  the 
task  of  acquainting  Mrs.  Paxton  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  preceding  three  days.  He  was 
aware  of  the  irrepressible  trembling  which 
shook  her  slender  frame  when  he  spoke  of  the 


286  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

ivory  skull  found  in  Edith  Lester's  under- 
bodice,  and  the  replica  of  the  same  grewsome 
token  sent  to  Forbes,  so  suppressed  all  men- 
tion of  his  own  experiences  on  returning  to 
Innesmore  Mansions  overnight. 

Furneaux  had  asked  him  for  the  bit  of 
ivory  that  morning,  and,  incidentally,  had  pro- 
duced the  others  from  his  pocket.  The  de- 
tective gave  no  reason  for  his  eagerness  to 
possess  these  trophies,  but  seemed  to  invest 
them  with  great  importance.  While  keeping 
up  a  constant  flow  of  talk  with  his  sister,  They- 
don  tried  to  puzzle  out  the  detective's  motive 
for  carrying  such  sinister  messengers  of  death 
around  London. 

Try  as  he  might,  he  could  arrive  at  no 
plausible  explanation,  but  he  did  not  make  the 
error  of  attributing  Furneaux 's  action  to  mere 
impulse.  Those  men  of  the  Yard  had  a  solid 
foundation  for  every  step  they  took.  Even  the 
visit  to  Smith's  Hotel,  and  subsequent  de- 
parture in  the  gray  car,  meant  a  definite  stride 
onward  in  the  fight  against  Wong  Li  Fu.  Of 
that  he  was  assured. 

At  11  Fortescue  Square  there  were  no  out- 
ward signs  of  recent  disturbance  beyond  the 
presence  of  a  sharp-eyed  policeman  at  each  cor- 
ner of  the  row  of  houses  of  which  Mr.  Forbes 's 
residence  formed  one  of  the  center  pair. 
Theydon  expected  to  see  a  shattered  window  in 
the  drawing-room  on  the  first  floor,  where, 


FORCEFUL  TACTICS  287 

presumably,  Mrs.  Forbes  was  standing  when 
the  shot  was  fired,  but  each  pane  in  three 
large  windows  was  intact,  and  the  windows 
were  closed. 

Then  he  reflected — as,  indeed,  proved  to  be 
the  case — that  on  such  a  fine  day  the  window 
would  probably  be  open.  Two  windows  on  the 
second  floor  and  one  in  the  cloakroom  near  the 
front  door  were  raised  a  few  inches,  but  drawn 
curtains  screened  from  observation  any  watch- 
ful eye  which  might  be  stationed  behind  them. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  armed  detectives  were 
hidden  there,  and  they  had  been  given  specific 
orders  to  shoot  without  warning  any  one  of 
Chinese  appearance  whose  behavior  was  sus- 
picious, while  three  men  were  in  readiness  in 
the  hall  to  rush  out  into  the  square  and  make 
an  arrest  under  similar  circumstances. 

In  that  fashionable  quarter,  at  that  hour, 
automobiles  of  every  type  were  passing  con- 
stantly. At  the  very  next  door  a  well- 
appointed  carriage  and  pair  was  in  readiness 
to  take  an  elderly  lady  for  a  drive  in  the  park. 
As  yet,  none  of  the  other  residents  in  the 
square  had  the  remotest  notion  that  No.  11  was 
in  a  state  of  siege.  The  position  of  affairs,  if 
it  were  not  so  desperate,  was  almost  amusing ! 

Mrs.  Paxton  and  Theydon  were  admitted 
without  any  delay,  and  Forbes  himself  hurried 
downstairs  to  greet  them.  He  was  pale,  .but 
quite  composed.  All  the  nervous  uncertainty; 


288  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

of  the  previous  day  had  vanished.  He  was 
armed  and  willing  for  the  fray.  If,  as  was  by 
no  means  unlikely,  Wong  Li  Fu  staked  every- 
thing on  a  gambler's  throw  and  led  his  cohort 
in  a  daylight  raid  on  the  house,  the  Manchu 
leader  would  meet  with  a  very  warm  reception. 

Forbes  was  surprised  to  find  that  a  lady  had 
come  with  Theydon,  but  expressed  his  pleasure 
at  the  visit,  which,  he  said,  was  just  the  thing 
his  wife  and  Evelyn  needed. 

"Yes,"  he  went  on  cheerfully,  noting  the 
astonishment  caused  by  his  words,  "Mrs. 
Forbes  is  not  seriously  injured.  The  bullet 
lacerated  the  top  of  her  left  shoulder,  and  the 
wound  is  painful  but  superficial.  She  posi- 
tively refuses  to  remain  in  bed,  so  our  doctor 
humored  her,  provided  she  promises  not  to 
pass  the  time  looking  through  the  drawing- 
room  window ! ' ' 

Mrs.  Paxton,  to  whose  senses  the  presence 
of  armed  detectives  and  constables  in  uniform 
was  even  more  eloquent  than  her  brother's 
words,  glanced  about  the  spacious  entrance 
hall  with  wide-eyed  amazement.  Once  she  and 
her  brother  were  recognized  as  friends  of  the 
family,  the  men  on  duty  gave  them  no  heed. 

Outside  were  the  familiar  sounds  of  London 
traffic;  within  were  preparations  for  conflict. 
The  police  carried  revolvers  openly  in  leather 
cases  strapped  to  their  belts.  On  a  table  near 
the  library  door  were  several  automatic  pis- 


FORCEFUL  TACTICS  289 

tols  ready  to  be  snatched  up  in  an  emergency. 
An  alert  detective,  revolver  in  hand,swas  peer- 
ing through  the  curtains  of  the  cloakroom; 
this  sentry,  in  particular,  would  alarm  the  gar- 
rison if,  as  Winter  had  definitely  warned  his 
assistants,  an  attempt  were  ever  made  to  enter 
the  house  by  main  force. 

"I  think  I  must  be  dreaming,"  she  said, 
trying  bravely  to  lessen  the  gravity  of  the 
statement  by  smiling  at  its  inherent  absurdity. 
"Am  I  in  London,  or  have  I  been  whisked  by 
magic  to  one  of  those  outposts  of  civilization 
where  men  and  women  of  European  race  are 
often  compelled  to  band  together  for  protec- 
tion against  savages'?  One  reads  of  such 
things  comfortably  while  dawdling  over  break- 
fast, and  one  wonders  idly  why  people  go  to 
such  places.  But  that  something  of  the  sort 
could  happen  in  London — why,  it  is  simply 
fantastic ! ' ' 

"It  is  unpleasantly  real,  for  all  that,  Mrs. 
Paxton,"  said  Forbes,  leading  the  way  up 
the  stairs.  "What  else  can  we  do?  If  the 
authorities  surrounded  the  house  with  a  cor- 
don of  soldiers  London  would  be  in  an  uproar. 
We  want  to  avoid  that,  at  all  costs.  I  have 
been  in  communication  with  the  Home  Office, 
and  am  advised  that,  if  we  decide  to  put  up 
with  the  inconvenience,  it  is  better,  and  actu- 
ally less  risky,  to  hold  out  here  than  seek 
safety  by  flight.  I  understand  that  Scotland 


290  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

Yard  is  not  losing  an  unnecessary  minute,  but 
there  are  obvious  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
decisive  action.  It  is  considered  worse  than 
useless  to  effect  isolated  arrests,  as  these  tend 
only  to  put  the  other  members  of  the  gang  on 
their  guard.  The  chief  inspector  tells  me  that 
he  had  some  hope  of  being  able  to  make  a  big 
haul  tonight.  The  principal  drawback  is  the 
language  bar.  Chinese  interpreters  are  few 
and  far  between  in  London,  and  those  who  do 
exist — in  the  East  End,  for  instance — have 
long  since  lost  any  useful  acquaintance  with 
events  in  their  own  country.  This  is  a  politi- 
cal matter,  you  understand,  and  must  be 
fought  out  on  political  lines.  Strange  as  it 
may  sound  in  your  ears,  the  cause  of  Chinese 
freedom  is  at  issue  in  this  very  house.  If 
Wong  Li  Fu  could  secure  a  list  of  names  now 
locked  in  a  bureau  in  my  library  the  Consti- 
tutional party  in  China  would  perish  forth- 
with for  want  of  leaders.  But  he  won't  get 
it.  Thanks  to  your  brother,  Mrs.  Paxton,  his 
deadliest  attack  failed  yesterday.  For  to- 
day's accident  we  have  ourselves  to  blame. 
We  did  not  even  suspect  that  his  malignity 
would  take  the  form  of  shooting  the  first 
person  who  chanced  to  look  out  of  a  win- 
dow." 

He  had  halted  at  the  top  of  the  broad  stair- 
case while  making  that  stirring  declaration  of 
war. 


FORCEFUL  TACTICS  291 

" Pardon  my  outspokenness,"  he  said,  sink- 
ing his  voice  to  a  lower  tone.  "I  don't  want  to 
frighten  my  wife  on  my  own  account.  She  be- 
lieves now  that  the  police  are  hunting  these 
scoundrels  in  every  hole  and  corner  of  Lon- 
don. In  a  sense,  that  is  true,  but  we  never 
know  the  moment  some  extraordinary  action 
may  be  taken,  so  we  remain  constantly  on  the 
qul  vive." 

He  heard  the  telephone  ring  beneath,  and 
turned  quickly. 

"I  may  be  wanted,"  he  said.  "I'll  join  you 
presently.  There  is  my  wife's  boudoir,"  and 
he  pointed  to  a  door.  "Take  Mrs.  Paxton  in, 
Theydon.  Mrs.  Forbes  and  Evelyn  will  be 
glad  of  your  company." 

Theydon  knocked,  and  heard  Evelyn's  voice 
bidding  him  enter.  Mrs.  Forbes  was  lying  on 
a  couch,  and  her  daughter  had  evidently  been 
seated  near  her,  reading  a  newspaper. 

"I've  brought  my  sister  to  see  you,"  he 
explained.  "I've  been  relating  such  heroic 
things  about  you  that  she  simply  refused  to 
go  home  without  ocular  proof  of  your  exist- 
ence. ' ' 

Mrs.  Forbes  would  have  risen,  but  was  re- 
strained by  the  girl's  emphatic  cry: 

"Mother,  why  won't  you  behave  like  an 
obedient  invalid?" 

Thus  coerced,  "Mother"  did  behave. 

"They  insist  on  treating  me  as  a  casualty," 


29'2  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

she  cried  cheerfully.  "What  is  your  sister's 
name,  Mr.  Theydon?" 

"Mollie,"  he  said  thoughtlessly,  for  he  had 
just  touched  Evelyn  Forbes 's  hand,  and  the 
mere  contact  gave  him  an  electrical  shock. 

The  women  laughed,  and  Mrs.  Paxton 
blushed. 

"Mollie  Paxton,  at  any  rate,"  she  said, 
realizing  at  once  that  her  brother  had  com- 
pletely lost  all  self-possession  at  sight  of  his 
divinity.  ' '  Now,  as  you  are  going  to  stay  here, 
Frank,  you  shall  give  me  the  full  measure  of 
the  few  minutes  I  can  spare,  so  go  and  talk 
over  your  adventures  with  Mr.  Forbes  while  I 
gossip  with  the  prisoners." 

Theydon  saw  that  his  tactful  sister  had 
struck  the  right  note.  She  might  be  trusted  to 
make  herself  eminently  agreeable.  Her  bright, 
smiling  manner  had  already  created  a  good 
impression,  and  a  lively  chat  with  one  who  had 
not  passed  through  the  vicissitudes  which  be- 
set the  Forbes  family  would  be  an  excellent 
tonic. 

"Before  I  efface  myself,  may  I  be  allowed 
to  congratulate  Mrs.  Forbes  on  her  escape?" 
he  said,  halting  at  the  door. 

"Yes,  you  may,"  replied  the  older  lady. 
"And,  just  to  show  that  I  am  convalescent, 
kindly  tell  Tomlinson  that  I  am  coming  down 
to  luncheon,  and  that  Mrs.  Paxton  will  join 
us." 


FORCEFUL  TACTICS  293 

Forbes  was  leaving  the  telephone  when 
Theydon  regained  the  hall  and  explained  that 
he  had  been  dismissed  from  the  feminine  con- 
clave upstairs.  The  millionaire  closed  the 
door  and  motioned  his  companion  to  a  chair. 

"How  long  will  it  be  before  London  wakes 
up  to  the  knowledge  of  what  is  going  on  in  its 
midst!"  he  said.  "Is  there  anything  in  the 
newspapers?  I  have  had  no  time  to  read.  I 
passed  a  rather  sleepless  night,  so  did  not 
rise  until  a  late  hour.  Then  Helen  was  fired 
at.  I  need  hardly  tell  you  that  my  time  has 
been  fully  occupied  since." 

Theydon  gave  a  resume  of  the  paragraph 
which  had  appeared  in  at  least  one  of  the 
morning  journals,  and  admitted  that  some  ink- 
ling of  the  truth  was  bound  to  gain  publicity 
during  the  next  few  hours. 

' '  I  cannot  understand  why  it  is  the  reporters 
are  not  here  by  the  score  already,"  he  went 
on.  ' '  Some  passer-by  must  have  seen  or  heard 
the  shooting.  A  pistol  cannot  be  fired  in  a 
quiet  square  like  this  without  attracting  gen- 
eral attention." 

"That  is  the  extraordinary  part  of  it,"  said 
Forbes,  smiling  grimly.  "People  heard  the 
noise,  of  course,  but  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  a  cylinder  in  the  car  had  back-fired.  That 
was  the  view  taken  by  two  policemen  on  duty 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  house.  A  detective 
stationed  in  the  cloakroom  actually  saw  the 


294  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

man  raising  the  weapon.  He,  of  course,  was 
under  no  delusion  as  to  what  had  happened, 
and  ran  out  instantly,  but  the  car  was  then 
traveling  at  a  fast  pace,  and  was  out  of  sight 
before  the  nearest  constable  could  even  en- 
deavor to  stop  it.  Anyhow,  what  was  the 
man  to  do?  We  cannot  expect  that  he  would 
whip  out  a  revolver,  if  he  carries  one,  and 
blaze  away  indiscriminately  at  car  and  occu- 
pants if  the  chauffeur  refused  to  pull  up. 
Really,  Theydon,  Wong  Li  Fu  has  perplexed 
the  authorities  more  than  any  desperado 
known  to  this  generation.  He  is  aware  that 
his  hostage  has  escaped  from  Croydon,  so  he 
calmly  drives  past  my  house,  knowing  full 
well  that  it  is  efficiently  guarded,  and  fires  a 
pot  shot  at  the  first  person  seen  through  one 
of  the  windows.  The  man  whom  I  have 
spoken  to  over  the  telephone  shares  that 
opinion.  He  is  one  of  the  legal  advisers  of 
the  Home  Office.  Just  to  show  the  baffling 
nature  of  the  problem,  he  says  that  it  will  be 
absolutely  impossible,  on  the  evidence  avail- 
able at  present,  to  frame  a  charge  against  any 
Chinaman  other  than  Wong  Li  Fu.  Yet  we 
know  that  he  has  at  least  four  or  five,  and 
probably  three  times  as  many,  accomplices." 
"Have  the  police  yet  obtained  any  real  clew 
as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  gang's  headquar- 
ters? They  must  have  some  sort  of  meeting 
place.  They  must  eat  and  sleep  somewhere." 


FORCEFUL  TACTICS  295 

"That  big  detective,  Winter,  came  here  this 
morning.  He  seemed  to  be  very  confident, 
though  I  think  I  gave  him  the  worst  shock  he 
has  received  for  many  a  year  when  I  informed 
him  that  within  an  hour  after  he  had  left  the 
house  Mrs.  Forbes  had  been  shot  at,  and  nar- 
rowly escaped  a  fatal  wound.  It  was  he  who 
asked  me  to  invite  you  to  come  here.  I'm  ex- 
ceedingly sorry  that  our  acquaintance,  begun 
so  happily,  should  involve  you  in  personal 
risk—" 

"As  for  that,"  broke  in  Theydon,  "I  would 
not  change  places  with  any  man  in  England 
at  this  moment." 

He  feared  instantly  that  he  might  have  said 
too  much,  and  added  with  a  laugh: 

"Don't  forget,  Mr.  Forbes,  that  I  write 
books,  some  of  them — the  most  popular  ones, 
I  am  afraid — being  of  a  sensational  type. 
When  this  tornado  has  died  down,  and  Wong 
Li  Fu  is  carefully  hanged,  and  you  and  your 
family  are  recuperating  in  Sutherlandshire, 
I  shall  resume  work  with  a  new  inspiration. 
Never  again  shall  I  say  to  myself,  'Oh,  that  is 
too  far-fetched,'  or  fear  that  I  am  straining 
my  readers'  credulity  beyond  bounds.  If  a 
small  gang  of  Chinamen  and  Japanese  can 
hold  up  London,  bamboozle  the  best  men  in 
Scotland  Yard,  and  keep  a  man  of  your  posi- 
tion a  prisoner  in  his  own  house,  I  need  have 
no  fear  of  adopting  any  situation  my  fertile 


296  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

brain  can  evolve,  because  four  days  ago  I 
would  have  scoffed  at  the  things  which  have 
actually  happened  as  quite  impossible  and 
therefore  unbelievable. ' ' 

" Japanese,  you  say?  Why  do  you  mention 
Japanese  f ' ' 

"The  American,  Mr.  Handyside,  tells  me 
the  skulls  are  of  Japanese  workmanship.  He 
argues  also  that  the  wrestling  tricks  of  which 
Winter  and  I,  and  Mrs.  Forbes  in  lesser  de- 
gree, have  had  some  experience,  are  Japanese. 
More  than  that,  a  Jap  was  arrested  outside 
my  place  early  this  morning." 

"Mr.  Winter  said  something  about  it,  but 
he  spoke  only  of  Chinamen." 

"I  have  Furneaux's  authority  for  the  state- 
ment that  the  prisoner  is  a  Jap,  and  belongs 
to  a  society  calling  itself  the  'Sons  of  Nip- 
pon.' " 

"But  confound  it,  I  have  no  quarrel  with 
Japan.  If  anything,  I  am  one  of  her  best 
friends." 

"I  must  get  Handyside  to  propound  one  of 
his  favorite  theories.  He  says  that  a  powerful 
and  growing  party  among  our  allies  in  the 
Far  East  means  to  keep  China  in  a  condition 
of  anarchy  until  Japan  is  prepared,  financially 
and  in  armament,  to  take  a  commanding  share 
in  the  ultimate  settlement.  But,  at  best,  the 
few  Japanese  adventurers  in  league  with 
Wong  Li  Fu  hardly  count.  Once  he  is  laid  by 


FORCEFUL  TACTICS  297 

the  heels  this  feud  will  evaporate  into  thin 
air." 

"If  it  doesn't,  I  must  ask  the  Government 
to  provide  safe  quarters  for  my  family  in  the 
Tower,"  muttered  Forbes,  rising  and  pacing 
the  room  in  the  same  thoughtful,  care-laden 
way  as  he  had  paced  it  when  Theydon  first 
told  him  of  Edith  Lester's  end. 

"  You  said  Wong  Li  Fu  knew  that  Mrs. 
Forbes  had  been  rescued  from  her  bonds  last 
night,"  went  on  Theydon.  "I  suppose  Winter 
told  you  that.  Was  he  only  assuming  the  fact, 
or  have  there  been  developments  at  Croydon?" 

"A  motor  car  drove  up  to  the  gate  openly 
at  ten  o'clock  this  morning.  A  police  ser- 
geant, jumping  to  the  conclusion  that  one  of 
his  own  chiefs  or  a  representative  of  Scot- 
land Yard  was  paying  the  place  a  visit>  in- 
cautiously showed  himself  in  the  doorway, 
whereupon  the  car  raced  away.  It  was  an 
unfortunate  and,  perhaps,  costly  blunder,  but 
the  man  is  hardly  to  be  blamed.  The  very 
audacity  of  the  gang  is  their  best  safeguard." 

A  luncheon  gong  clanged  in  the  hall.  Both 
men  started,  and  then  laughed. 

"You  see,"  cried  Forbes.  "These  rascals 
have  got  us  on  the  jump.  I  don't  know  how 
long  my  servants  will  stand  the  racket.  They 
are  most  loyal,  and  Tomlinson  vows  that  not  a 
syllable  has  been  breathed  outside  by  any  of 
our  domestics.  But  the  women's  nerves  are 


298  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

on  edge.  A  scullery  maid  dropped  a  decanter 
a  little  while  since,  and  the  crash  drew  blood- 
curdling shrieks  from  the  kitchen.  Come,  let 
us  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  for  tomorrow  we 
die.  The  quotation  is  not  a  felicitous  one. 
Indeed,  it  is  distinctly  ominous,  but  it  seems 
to  meet  the  conditions." 

He  threw  open  the  door,  and  saw  the  three 
ladies  descending  the  stairs. 

''Helena,"  he  cried  sternly,  "the  doctor 
said  you  were  not  to  stir  out  of  your 
room." 

"My  dear,  the  doctor  is  a  mere  man,  and 
fancies  that  a  woman  is  not  fitted  for  war- 
fare. He  is  quite  mistaken.  When  aroused 
we  can  be  terrible." 

Mrs.  Forbes,  whose  face  was  paler  and  eyes 
seemingly  bigger  and  more  luminous  than 
usual,  was  leaning  on  Evelyn's  arm.  She  was 
dressed  in  a  blue  tulle  costume  which  lent  a 
fragile  air  to  an  already  slender  form,  but  she 
smiled  so  unaffectedly  that  even  the  policeman 
grinned. 

"You  certainly  look  ferocious,"  said  her 
husband,  yielding  instantly,  as  she  well  knew 
would  happen. 

"I  believe  you  are  all  jealous,"  she  vowed. 
"I  am  the  only  one  who  has  really  been  in  the 
forefront  of  the  battle.  No.  I  forgot  you,  Mr. 
Theydon.  Didn't  that  horrid  man  knock  you 
down?" 


FORCEFUL  TACTICS  299 

"Yes,"  said  Theydon,  moistening  his  lips 
with  his  tongue.  There  was  such  a  peculiar 
rasp  in  his  voice  that  it  evoked  a  general 
laugh. 

Obviously  the  guests  meant  to  avoid  serious 
topics  during  the  meal.  Evelyn  Forbes  chimed 
in  with  a  reminiscence  of  her  schooldays  in 
Brussels,  and  soon  the  talk  was  general,  rang- 
ing from  the  year's  Academy  to  the  Ladies' 
Gold  Championship. 

Mrs.  Paxton,  an  excellent  mimic,  was  amus- 
ing them  with  imitations  of  the  voice  and  man- 
ner of  a  certain  well-known  lady  golfer,  when 
she  was  interrupted  by  three  sharp,  irregular 
cracks  which  seemed  to  come  from  the  dining- 
room  windows.  Simultaneously  a  picture 
frame  on  the  opposite  wall  was  split  and  a 
Worcester  vase  on  a  sideboard  was  smashed 
to  atoms. 

Theydon,  owing  to  his  position  at  the  table, 
was  the  first  to  notice  three  small,  starred 
holes  in  the  plate  glass  of  the  windows. 

"Don't  stand  up!"  he  said,  instantly. 
"Some  one  is  shooting  at  the  house.  Crouch 
on  the  floor,  for  Heaven's  sake!" 

That  urgent  appeal  was  emphasized  by  a 
fourth  bullet,  which,  taking  a  lower  flight, 
barely  missed  Forbes,  upset  a  Venetian  glass 
flower  vase  on  the  table,  and  buried  itself  in 
the  lower  half  of  the  sideboard. 

Forbes,    heedless    of    the    possible    conse- 


300  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

quences  to  himself,  sprang  to  his  wife's  as- 
sistance, and,  interposing  his  body  as  a  shield 
between  her  and  the  windows,  led  her  to  an 
angle  of  the  wall  where  she  would  be  safe. 
The  younger  women,  after  a  momentary  hesita- 
tion, dropped  to  the  floor  and  crawled  to  the 
same  refuge.  Theydon  ran  out.  The  front 
door  was  open. 

The  police  had  heard  the  shooting,  the  sound 
of  which  had  been  deadened  to  those  in  the 
dining  room  by  the  breaking  glass  and  china. 
But  within  a  few  minutes  a  useless  pursuit 
was  abandoned.  The  fusillade  had  come  from 
a  car  which  halted  close  to  the  garden  railings 
on  the  far  side  of  the  square.  Though  the 
trees  were  nearly  in  full  leaf,  and  dense  shrub- 
beries seemed  to  shut  off  every  house  from  any 
such  method  of  attack,  investigation  proved 
that  it  was  possible  to  estimate  accurately 
the  position  of  the  dining-room  windows  in 
No.  11. 

When  Theydon  returned  he  found  Forbes 
and  the  ladies  gathered  in  the  hall. 

"  Another  narrow  escape  on  both  sides, "  he 
said  coolly.  "Two  policemen  were  just  too 
late  to  interfere.  Of  course,  they  did  not  anti- 
cipate a  move  in  that  quarter. " 

"Have  the — er — enemy  made  off  in  a  car?" 
said  Mrs.  Forbes. 

"Yes.  A  constable  in  a  taxi  is  trying  to 
follow  them." 


FORCEFUL  TACTICS  301 

"Well,  then,  let  us  finish  our  luncheon.  I 
had  hardly  touched  my  cutlet." 

"By  Jove,  Helena,  that  doctor  of  ours  was 
decidedly  in  error,"  cried  •  her  husband. 
"You're  right.  If  we're  .besieged  we  must 
carry  ourselves  according  to  the  code.  Mrs. 
Paxton,  I  hope  it  won't  disturb  you  if  a  shell 
bursts  before  coffee  is  served!" 

Theydon  glanced  through  a  window  before 
resuming  his  seat. 

"That  volley  has  done  things!"  he  an- 
nounced. "London  is  stirring  at  last.  There's 
a  crowd  in  front  of  the  house,  and  a  short,  fat 
man  is  explaining  the  procedure.  Prepare  now 
to  receive  the  press  in  battalions." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

WHEREIN    UNEXPECTED   ALLIES    APPEAR 

ALTHOUGH,  as  shall  be  seen,  the  final  and 
complete  defeat  and  extinction  of  the  London 
section  of  the  Young  Manchus  were  directly 
due  to  forces  set  in  motion  by  Furneaux,  it 
was  Winter's  painstaking  way  of  covering  the 
ground  that  unearthed  the  fraternity's  meet- 
ing place,  and  thus  brought  matters  to  a  head 
speedily.  For  the  rest,  events  followed  their 
own  course,  and  great  would  have  been  the 
fame  of  the  prophet  who  predicted  that  course 
accurately. 

In  later  days,  when  more  ample  knowledge 
was  available,  it  was  a  debatable  point  whether 
or  not  the  inmates  of  No.  11  Fortescue  Square 
were  saved  from  an  almost  maniacal  venge- 
ance by  the  fact  that  a  crisis  was  precipi- 
tated. Winter  maintained  stoutly  that  the  po- 
lice must  triumph  in  the  long  run,  whereas 
Furneaux  held,  with  even  greater  tenacity, 
that  although  the  gang  would  undoubtedly  be 
broken  up,  that  much-desired  end  might  have 
been  attained  after,  and  not  before,  a  dire 
tragedy  occurred  in  the  Forbes  household. 

The  pros  and  cons  of  the  argument  were 

302 


UNEXPECTED  ALLIES  APPEAR  303 

equally  numerous  and  weighty.  They  cannot 
be  marshaled  here.  Each  man  and  woman 
who  reads  this  record  will  probably  form  an 
emphatic  opinion  tending  toward  the  one  side 
or  the  other.  All  that  a  veracious  chronicler 
can  accomplish  is  to  set  forth  a  plain  tale  of 
events  in  their  proper  sequence,  and  leave 
the  ultimate  verdict  to  individual  judgment. 

Winter  was  a  hard-headed,  broad-minded  of- 
ficial, whose  long  and  wide  experience  enabled 
him  to  estimate  at  their  true  value  the  far- 
reaching  powers  of  the  State  as  opposed  to 
the  machinations  of  a  few  determined  outlaws. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  amazing  facility  with 
which  Furneaux  could  enter  into  the  twists 
and  turns  of  the  criminal  mind  entitles  his 
matured  views  to  much  respect. 

At  any  rate,  this  is  what  happened. 

Winter  was  sitting  in  his  office,  smoking  a 
fat  cigar,  and  wading  through  reports  brought 
in  by  subordinates  concerning  every  opium 
den  and  Chinese  boarding  house  in  the  East 
End,  when  Furneaux  entered. 

"Any  luck?"  inquired  the  chief,  laying  aside 
one  document  which  seemed  to  merit  fuller  in- 
quiry; it  described  a  club  much  frequented  by 
Chinese  residents  in  London,  men  of  a  higher 
class  than  the  sailors  and  firemen  brought  to 
the  port  by  ships  trading  with  the  Far  East, 
and  an  outstanding  feature  of  the  Young  Man- 
chus'  operations  was  the  intelligent  grasp  of 


304  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

the  ways  and  means  of  modern  civilized  life 
these  filibusters  exhibited. 

" So-so,"  squeaked  Furneaux. 

He  flung  himself  into  a  big  armchair,  curled 
up  in  it  like  an  animated  Buddha,  and  ex- 
tracted one  of  the  three  ivory  skulls  from  a 
waistcoat  pocket. 

"If  you  could  only  speak,  you  image  of 
evil!"  he  muttered.  "You're  not  so  dead  that 
you  cannot  work  mischief.  Why  the  deuce, 
then,  can't  you  mouth  your  incantations! 
Then  we  would  listen  and  learn." 

Winter,  still  sorting  his  papers,  cocked 
the  cigar  inquisitively  on  one  side  of  his 
mouth. 

"Oh,  I  have  ascertained  a  lot  about  the 
inner  politics  of  China,"  mumbled  Furneaux, 
irritably,  gazing  fixedly  at  the  skull  after  one 
quick  glance  of  his  colleague.  "Every  little 
helps,  of  course.  I  have  met  some  Chinamen 
this  morning  who  would  cheerfully  plunge 
Wong  Li  Fu  into  a  cauldron  of  boiling  oil,  and 
stir  him  round  with  a  long  stick  when  he  was 
in  it.  One  man,  quite  an  important  personage 
in  the  jute  line,  has  lost  a  brother  and  a 
brother-in-law,  the  one  in  Canton,  the  other 
in  Pekin,  and  he  lays  both  deaths  at  the  door 
of  the  redoubtable  Wong.  Another,  the  fel- 
low who  chanced  to  take  up  his  quarters  at 
Smith's  Hotel,  is  a  delegate  sent  here  spe- 
cially to  hunt  out  Wong,  and  destroy  him.  I 


asked  him  how  he  meant  to  set  about  it,  but 
his  scheme  is  vague.  He's  an  opportunist  of 
the  first  water.  'Me  ca tehee  and  killee  Wong 
Li  Fu  one  time,'  was  his  best  effort.  I'm 
going  to  confront  Len  Shi  with  these  two  in 
Bow  Street.  They  may  worm  something  out 
of  him.  But  will  they  own  up  if  they  do? 
Dashed  if  I  know.  The  Oriental  mind  is  on  a 
par  with  their  blessed  language.  It  has  three 
thousand  ways  of  expressing  one  idea,  and 
not  one  of  'em  is  our  way." 

"Has  Theydon  gone  to  Fortescue  Square?" 

"I  suppose  so.  He  turned  up  in  Jermyn 
Street — outside  Smith's  Hotel,  if  you  please, 
with  a  lady  in  a  taxi." 

"A  lady?    Miss  Beale?" 

"No,  his  sister,  judging  from  the  family 
likeness.  His  eyes  grew  goggled  like  yours 
when  he  saw  the  gray  car." 

"Didn't  you  explain  matters?" 

"Not  I.  Gave  him  the  cut  direct.  My  China- 
men are  shy  birds,  and  I  daren't  flutter  them 
by  letting  them  think  there  are  too  many  for- 
eign devils  mixed  up  in  the  business.  My 
London  Chinaman  was  the  brainy  person  who 
got  the  Embassy  busy  when  Mrs.  Lester's 
death  was  announced.  He  saw  Wong  Li  Fu's 
hand  in  that  from  the  first  moment.  Oddly 
enough,  though  he  and  a  man  from  the  Em- 
bassy followed  Theydon  from  Waterloo  to 
Forbes 's  place  on  Tuesday  night,  and  again 


306  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

to  Inncsmore  Mansions,  he  didn't  recognize 
him  today.  Or  perhaps  he  did.  I  don't 
know.  Talk  about  the  impassive  Bed  Indian! 
A  thoroughbred  Chink  would  give  a  Pawnee 
chief  one  glass  eye  and  a  coat  of  paint,  and 
then  beat  him  hollow  at  the  haughty  indif- 
ference game." 

"My!"  said  Winter  admiringly,  "you've  got 
your  tongue  loose  today.  Well,  here's  an  item 
which  should  prove  useful.  Whitechapel  thinks 
we  may  find  a  Young  Manchu  or  two  among 
that  collection,"  and  he  threw  an  official  mem- 
orandum across  the  table. 

Furneaux  repocketed  the  skull,  and  was  gaz- 
ing moodily  at  the  report,  when  a  uniformed 
constable  announced  that  a  boy  messenger 
wished  to  see  a  "detective"  with  regard  to 
the  typed  letter  delivered  at  Mr.  Forbes 's 
house  on  Wednesday  evening. 

"Show  him  up,"  said  the  chief,  and  a 
smart-looking  boy,  wearing  the  familiar  uni- 
form of  his  corps,  was  brought  in.  He  glanced 
around  inquiringly. 

"Oh,  you're  the  gentleman  who  came  to 
our  Piccadilly  office,"  he  said  to  Winter. 

"Yes." 

"Well,  sir,  I  haven't  very  mucji  to  tell  you, 
but  it  was  I  who  took  the  letter  to  Fortescue 
Square.  I  saw  the  sender,  a  foreign-looking 
gentleman,  he  was,  with  funny  eyes,  and  I 
think  I  spotted  him  again  this  afternoon.  He 


UNEXPECTED  ALLIES  APPEAR  307 

was  coming  out  of  a  house  in  Charlotte 
Street." 

''Are  you  sure?"  demanded  Winter,  quickly. 

"He  was  awful  like  the  man  who  engaged 
me,  sir,  and  dressed  the  same  way." 

"Did  you  notice  the  number  of  the  house f" 

"Yes,  sir.    No.  412." 

"Quite  certain  about  that?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Good  boy.  If  your  information  is  of  any 
service  I'll  take  care  you  are  not  forgotten/' 

The  boy  saluted  and  went  out. 

"We  must  look  up  No.  412,"  said  Winter, 
quietly;  but  there  was  a  ring  of  genuine  satis- 
faction in  his  voice,  because  the  clew  promised 
well,  and  it  was  a  complete  justification  of  the 
straightforward  method  he  adopted  in  every 
inquiry,  whereas  Furncaux  invariably  pre- 
ferred an  abstruse  theory  to  a  definite  piece  of 
evidence.  >^ 

The  Jersey  man's  face  had  wrinkled  as  a 
preliminary  to  some  sarcastic  comment  on 
what  he  termed  the  "handcuff"  way  of  rea- 
soning, when  the  telephone  bell  rang.  Winter 
answered,  and  at  once  his  self-possessed  air 
fled.  Indeed,  it  was  a  very  angry  man  who 
listened,  because  a  subordinate  was  telephon- 
ing from  Fortescue  Square  a  full  account  of 
the  shooting  outrage. 

The  Chief  gave  a  few  curt  instructions  as  to 


308  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

securing  the  adequate  cooperation  of  the  local 
police,  who  should  take  measures  to  render 
any  repetition  of  such  daring  tactics  absolutely 
impossible. 

"No  one  was  injured,  you  say?"  he  added. 

"No,  sir." 

"Were  the  ladies  very  much  frightened?" 

"They've  gone  back  to  finish  luncheon,  sir." 

"Good.  Evidently  they're  all  of  the  right 
breed.  You  can  tell  them  I  said  so,  if  you 
like.  Assure  Mr.  Forbes  that  every  care  will 
be  taken  to  protect  his  house  in  future.  See 
that  strong  patrols  occupy  every  point  from 
which  a  gun  can  be  aimed  at  any  window,  even 
the  attics,  in  No.  11.  Phone  me  again  when 
you  have  discussed  matters  withjhe  district 
superintendent." 

The  receiver  clanged  back  into  its  hook. 
Winter  had  not  foreseen  this  latest  move. 
"Sheer  impudence,"  he  termed  it. 

"More  bullets?"  inquired  Furneaux  lacon- 
ically. 

"Yes.  A  long-range  attack  from  across  the 
square.  Four  shots  lodged  in  dining  room." 

"No  one  hurt,  and  no  one  arrested?" 

"Not  a  soul." 

"James,"  said  the  little  man  solemnly, 
"Wong  Li  Fu  is  making  us  a  laughing-stock. 
Are  you  aware  that  the  newspapers  will  get 
on  our  track  now?  Can't  you  see  the  head- 
lines?— 'Another  Sidney  Street.'  'Chinese 


UNEXPECTED  ALLIES  APPEAR  309 

Pirates  Busy  in  London.'  'Scotland  Yard 
Outwitted.'  By  this  time  tomorrow  the  Com- 
missioner will  be  suggesting  that  you  and  I 
ought  to  think  about  retiring  on  pensions." 

Winter  jumped  up,  overturning  a  chair  in 
his  haste. 

"Come!"  he  said.  "If  that  Chinaman  in 
Bow  Street  won't  speak,  I'll  torture  him. 
What  of  the  other  fellow  who  was  caught  near 
Innesmore  Mansions?" 

"He's  a  Jap.  He  knows  nothing.  He  was 
hired  for  the  job — to  put  any  interfering 
bobby  to  sleep." 

The  chief  inspector  angrily  bundled  some 
papers  into  a  drawer,  and  threw  away  his 
cigar,  which  he  had  allowed  to  go  out.  Fur- 
neaux  produced  an  ivory  skull  again,  and 
scowled  at  it,  whereupon  his  superior,  snorting 
with  annoyance,  strode  to  the  window,  and  af- 
fected an  interest  he  was  far  from  feeling  in 
the  panorama  of  the  Thames. 

And  thus  they  passed  a  harmonious  quarter 
of  an  hour,  which  came  to  an  end  with  the  ap- 
pearance of  an  attendant  to  announce  the  ar- 
rival of  "two  Chinese  gentlemen  to  see  Mr. 
Furneaux." 

They  went  down  in  the  elevator  without  ex- 
changing a  word.  At  the  entrance  stood  the 
gray  car,  in  which  the  Chinamen  were  already 
seated.  Furneaux  introduced  the  chief  in- 
spector, and  they  were  whisked  to  Bow  Street. 


310  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

There  in  a  cell  they  found  Len  Shi,  a  some- 
what sullen-looking  man  -whose  European 
chauffeur's  livery  seemed  curiously  raffish  and 
unsuitable  when  contrasted  with  the  more 
picturesque  if  sober-hued  garments  worn  by 
his  fellow-countrymen. 

At  first  he  maintained  the  sulky  know- 
nothing  role  which  he  had  adopted  successfully 
with  the  official  interpreter.  Furneaux,  watch- 
ing the  faces  of  prisoner  and  questioners, 
guessed  that  small  progress  was  being  made, 
so,  waiting  until  Len  Shi  was  evidently  quite 
satisfied  with  himself,  he  suddenly  thrust  an 
ivory  skull  before  the  man's  eyes.  The  re- 
sult was  unexpected  but  puzzling.  The  man 
was  badly  scared,  beyond  doubt,  but  he  now 
became  obstinately  silent. 

Winter,  than  whom  no  living  actor  could 
play  up  better  to  Furneaux 's  tactics  in  a 
touch-and-go  encounter  of  this  sort,  assumed  a 
highly  tragic  air. 

11  Handcuff  that  man,  and  bring  him  out!" 
he  said  to  the  constable  in  charge  of  the  cells. 

Len  Shi  blanched.  He  estimated  the  legal 
methods  of  Great  Britain  by  those  which  ob- 
tained in  his  own  land,  and  probably  thought 
he  was  being  led  forth  to  immediate  execution. 

The  whole  five  crowded  into  the  car,  and  the 
driver,  the  same  English  chauffeur  to  whom 
Theydon  had  spoken,  was  told  to  make  for  412 
Charlotte  Street,  and  pass  the  house  slowly, 


UNEXPECTED  ALLIES  APPEAR  311 

but  not  pull  up.  Len  Shi,  though  quaking  with 
alarm,  bore  himself  with  a  certain  dignified 
stoicism  until  he  found  out  where  the  car  was 
apparently  stopping.  Then  he  said  something 
in  a  panic-stricken  voice  and  the  jute  mer- 
chant, who  spoke  English  fluently,  turned  to 
Furneaux. 

1 ' Tell  the  chauffeur  to  return,"  he  said. 
"Leu  Shi  will  now  confess." 

Once  started,  Len  Shi  talked  volubly.  The 
others  merely  put  in  a  question  now  and  then, 
and  the  detectives  curbed  their  impatience  as 
best  they  might  until  Len  Shi  was  safely 
lodged  in  Bow  Street  again. 

Then  Winter  led  his  Chinese  helpers  into 
an  inner  office  and  closed  the  door. 

"Well?"  he  said,  addressing  the  jute  mer- 
chant. The  other  Chinaman  had  very  little 
English  and  could  not  maintain  a  conversation. 

But,  to  the  chief  inspector's  surprise  and 
wrath,  the  English-speaking  Chinaman  had 
only  a  request  to  make. 

"Give  me  and  my  friend  those  three  ivory 
skulls,"  he  said. 

"Why?"  he  said. 

"Without  them  we  can  accomplish  nothing." 

"Be  good  enough  to  explain  yourself. 
Above  all,  tell  me  what  Len  Shi  has  been  jab- 
bering about.  He  had  plenty  to  say." 

"He  told  us  of  the  fate  of  our  friends  in 
China.  Those  things  do  not  concern  you.  What 


312  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

you  want  is  to  have  Wong  Li  Fu  and  the  others 
—there  are  nearly  twenty  in  all — delivered 
into  your  hands.  Very  well.  Give  us  those 
ivory  skulls,  and  bring  your  men  to  that  house 
in  Charlotte  Street,  at  one  o'clock  this  night, 
and  you  will  take  them  without  a  blow  being 
struck. ' ' 

' '  That  is  our  business,  not  yours, ' '  said  Win- 
ter, gruffly  decisive.  * '  I  cannot  expose  you  two 
gentlemen  to  any  personal  risk  in  this  affair. 
Kindly—" 

1  'You  do  not  understand,"  broke  in  the  jute 
merchant,  addressing  the  burly  representative 
of  the  Criminal  Investigation  Department  as  if 
he  were  a  fractious  child  who  must  be  in- 
formed as  to  the  why  and  wherefore  of  a  dis- 
agreeable duty.  "What  will  you  do?  Sur- 
round the  house  with  policemen,  break  in  the 
doors,  and  fight!  You  may,  or  may  not  suc- 
ceed. Some,  plenty,  of  your  men  will  certainly 
be  killed.  That  is  not  good.  We  do  not  wish 
it.  Give  me  those  skulls.  I  and  my  friend 
will  go  there.  You  come  at  one  o'clock,  tap 
so  on  the  door,  and  we  will  admit  you.  Then 
you  take  Wong  Li  Fu  and  all  the  others. 
There  will  be  no  fight." 

The  Chinaman's  manner  was  singularly  im- 
pressive as  he  tapped  three  times  on  a  high 
desk  to  emphasize,  as  it  were,  his  instructions. 
The  sound,  too,  was  curious.  He  did  not  use 
his  knuckles,  but  bunched  the  fingers  of  his 


UNEXPECTED  ALLIES  APPEAR  313 

right  hand  together,  and  rapped  on  the  wood 
with  the  long  nails  which  are  a  mark  of  dis- 
tinction in  his  race. 

"We  make  things  easy  and  certain  for  you,'* 
he  added,  more  by  way  of  painstaking  argu- 
ment than  because  any  further  explanation  was 
really  necessary.  "You  do  not  wish  to  fail, 
no?  You  want  to  be  sure  that  Wong  Li  Fu's 
evil  deeds  shall  be  stopped?  Good.  We  do 
that — I  and  my  friend.  We  can  pass  the  door- 
keepers. Can  you?  No.  At  one  o'clock  we 
open  the  door  and  the  Young  Manchus  will  be 
wholly  in  your  power,  to  do  with  them  what 
you  will.  I  promise  that,  and  my  word  is 
always  taken  in  the  city." 

Winter  turned  troubled  eyes  on  Furneaux. 

"What  do  you  say?"  he  muttered  irres- 
olutely. 

"I  think  the  plan  is  a  good  one,  and  should 
be  adopted,"  was  the  instant  reply. 

Nevertheless,  Winter  was  perplexed.  He 
hemmed  and  hawed  a  good  deal.  Seldom  did 
he  hesitate  in  this  fashion.  As  a  rule,  he  was 
quick  to  decide  and  quicker  to  act. 

"I  might  entertain  your  scheme  if  I  were 
told  more  about  it,"  he  said  dubiously,  gazing 
with  troubled  eyes  at  the  Chinaman's  blandly 
inscrutable  face.  "Please  believe  me  when  I 
say  that  I  trust  your  good  faith,  but  I  am  not 
sure  that  even  you  understand  fully  the  nature 
of  the  adventure  you  have  in  mind.  Wong  Li 


314  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

Fu  has  already  committed  one  murder  in  Lon- 
don. He  has  attempted  others,  and  is  ab- 
solutely careless  of  consequences.  How  can  I 
have  any  guarantee  that  you  and  this  other 
gentleman  may  not  be  his  next  victims'?  He 
is  a  person  who  displays  a  somewhat  forced 
humor.  We  might  enter  the  Charlotte  Street 
house  at  one  o'clock  and  find  your  corpses 
there,  with  labels  and  ivory  skulls  neatly  at- 
tached." 

"That  will  not  be  so,"  was  the  grave  answer. 

"If  I  agree,  what  time  do  you  propose 
going  there!" 

"About  midnight." 

"And  do  you  expect  the  police  to  leave  the 
whole  neighborhood  severely  alone  for  another 
hour?" 

"Not  unless  you  wish  it.  If  you  so  desire 
you  can  occupy  both  ends  of  the  street,  and 
arrest  every  Chinaman  coming  away  from  No. 
412,  but  let  those  pass  who  go  towards  it." 

"Will  others  go  there — friends  of  yours,  I 
mean?" 

"  Oh,  yes.  We  will  overpower  the  Young 
Manchus  by  taking  them  unaware.  We  will 
act  quietly,  but  there  will  be  no  mistake.  It  is 
you  who  will  err  if  you  do  not  accept  our  help. ' ' 

Then  Winter  yielded,  though  not  with  a 
good  grace.  The  implied  suggestion  that  the 
London  police  could  not  handle  a  set  of  Mon- 
golian ruffians  was  utterly  distasteful,  yet  he 


UNEXPECTED  ALLIES  APPEAR  315 

admitted,  though  unwillingly,  that  he  did  not 
want  to  sacrifice  some  of  his  best  men  in  rush- 
ing the  place. 

"All  right,"  he  said.  "Hand  over  the 
skulls,  Furneaux !  It  is  quite  agreed, ' '  he  went 
on,  addressing  the  Chinaman  again,  "that  I 
have  full  liberty  of  action  in  so  far  as  pre- 
liminary arrangements  are  concerned?  I  see 
your  point  that  Wong  Li  Fu  must  not  be  fore- 
warned, and  shall  take  care  that  my  men  are 
hidden.  I  have  your  positive  assurance,  too, 
that  you  are  not  exposing  your  own  life  in 
any  way!" 

' '  To  the  best  of  my  belief  I  shall  be  as  safe 
in  Charlotte  Street  as  I  am  here,"  said  the 
jute  merchant,  smiling  for  the  first  time  dur- 
ing the  interview. 

"One!  Two!  Three!"  said  Furneaux, 
counting  the  skulls  into  the  Chinaman's  out- 
stretched hand. 

For  some  reason,  the  action,  no  less  than  the 
words,  jarred  on  Winter. 

"I  do  wish  you  wouldn't  be  so  d — d  theat- 
rical!" he  growled. 

Furneaux  said  nothing.  He  accompanied 
the  chief  inspector  when  the  latter  escorted  the 
two  Chinamen  to  their  car,  and  whistled  softly 
between  his  teeth  while  Winter  and  he  were 
walking  to  Scotland  Yard.  The  big  man 
glowered  at  him  once  or  twice,  but  passed  no 
comment.  When  they  reached  the  Embank- 


316  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

ment,  Winter  took  Furneaux  to  his  room,  but 
left  him  instantly.  He  was  absent  a  long  time. 
When  he  came  in  again  he  was  cheerfully 
placid. 

Walking  toward  their  favorite  restaurant  in 
Soho,  they  met  a  newsboy  running  with  an 
edition  of  an  evening  newspaper  damp  from 
the  press.  The  boy  was  shouting,  "  'Orrible 
crime  in  the  West  End;  Chinese  outrage!" 
Furneaux  bought  a  paper.  It  contained  a 
lively  account  of  the  attack  on  Mr.  Forbes 's 
house  and  described  the  mansion  as  an  armed 
fortress.  Scores  of  police  were  parading  the 
neighborhood  and  examining  every  passing 
motor  car  lest  it  held  Chinese  bandits.  The 
arrest  of  Len  Shi  at  St.  Albans,  and  of  a  Jap- 
anese outside  Innesmore  Mansions,  was  re- 
called, and  an  Eastbourne  correspondent  had 
sent  a  fairly  accurate  version  of  the  kidnap- 
ing of  Mrs.  Forbes. 

"  The  pack  is  in  full  cry  now,  James," 
grinned  Furneaux.  ''Tomorrow — " 

"0,  bother  tomorrow!  Let's  eat,  and  talk 
about  something  else." 

"What?  Both?  Well,  now,  if  that  isn't  a 
bit  of  luck,"  cried  a  pleasant  voice  close  be- 
hind them,  and  Mr.  George  T.  Handyside  held 
out  his  two  hands. 

"I  was  feeling  kind  of  lonesome  in  the 
hotel,  and  just  strolled  out  to  look  at  the 
shops,"  he  rattled  on.  "Say,  can  you  boys 


UNEXPECTED  ALLIES  APPEAR  317 

eat  a  line?  Is  there  any  place  in  London 
where  they  know  what  a  planked  steak  is?" 

"Planked  steak!"  snorted  Furneaux. 
"When  you've  tasted  a  porterhouse  steak 
grilled  by  a  master  hand  you'll  never  x men- 
tion any  other  variety  again.  Come  right 
along,  Mr.  Handyside.  Tell  us  fairy  tales 
about  God's  own  country.  We're  in  the  right 
mood  to  believe  anything!" 

"But  what's  this  story  of  another  shooting 
up  in  Fortescue  Square?  Is  it  true?" 

Then  Furneaux  dug  him  in  the  ribs. 

"This  isn't  the  Wild  and  Woolly  West,"  he 
said.  "This  is  London,  sir,  poor,  old,  played- 
out  London,  whose  beefy  citizens  do  nothing 
but  eat,  talk  cricket  or  golf,  and  sleep.  If 
you  credit  the  newspapers,  you'll  never  get  us 
in  the  right  perspective." 

Another  newspaper  boy  raced  past,  bawling 
loudly. 

"All  a  flam,  is  it?"  said  the  American  quiz- 
zically. 

"No,"  said  Winter,  "it's  the  truth,  and  less 
than  the  truth.  Let's  hunt  that  steak,  and 
we'll  season  the  dish  for  you." 

Winter  never  erred  when  he  chose  a  man 
as  a  friend.  He  liked  Handyside,  and  was 
half  inclined  to  drop  a  hint  in  his  ear  as  to 
the  night's  program,  for  the  American  had 
seen  Wong  Li  Fu  more  than  once,  and  might 
be  useful  for  identification  purposes. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE   SETTLEMENT 

Now,  Len  Shi  had  communicated  one  vital 
fact  to  his  compatriots  which  they  had  care- 
fully concealed  from  the  detectives.  The  open- 
ing campaign  against  Forbes  had  practically 
ended  that  day.  Thenceforth,  for  a  week,  the 
Young  Manchus  meant  to  separate,  revert  to 
Chinese  costume,  live  in  Chinese  boarding- 
houses  in  the  East  End,  and  thus  utterly  mis- 
lead and  bamboozle  the  police,  who,  in  their 
hunt  for  the  miscreants,  would  be  searching 
for  Chinamen  in  European  dress  and  living 
in  European  style. 

Winter  was  in  two  minds  whether  or  not  to 
inform  the  inmates  of  No.  11  as  to  the  con- 
templated raid  on  the  Charlotte  Street  rendez- 
vous. Ultimately,  he  decided  to  say  nothing 
definite  that  evening.  It  was  better  that  the 
threatened  people  and  their  guards  should  not 
relax  their  vigilance.  "The  best-laid  schemes 
o'  mice  and  men  gang  aft  a-gley,"  and  if, 
perchance,  the  jute  merchant's  plan,  whatever 
it  might  be,  miscarried,  and  some  of  the  des- 
peradoes escaped,  they  would  be  stirred  to 
instant  reprisals. 

318 


THE  SETTLEMENT  319 

But  there  was  no  semblance  of  doubt  or 
hesitation  about  the  measures  taken  by  the  po- 
lice. That  night,  from  eleven  o'clock  onward, 
not  even  a  prowling  cat  entered  Charlotte 
Street  without  being  seen  by  sharp  eyes. 
Nearly  opposite  No.  412  was  a  large  ware- 
house, with  a  back  entrance  a  long  way  in 
the  rear,  and  approached  from  another  street. 

At  midnight  three  Chinamen  appeared, 
turned  into  Charlotte  Street  from  the  south 
and  shuffled  on  noiseless  feet  straight  to  No. 
414.  They  knocked,  and  after  some  delay 
were  admitted.  A  minute  later  three  others 
came  from  the  north,  knocked  on  the  door  of 
No.  410  and  disappeared,  the  delay,  seemingly 
caused  by  a  parley  with  some  one  within,  be- 
ing longer  in  this  instance. 

Afterward  squads  of  Chinamen,  exactly  25, 
all  told,  came  from  north  and  south  in  practic- 
ally equal  numbers  and  entered  those  two 
houses,  but  never  a  man  entered,  or  passed,  or 
came  out  of  No.  412.  These  more  numerous 
arrivals  met  with  no  hesitation  on  the  part  of 
the  two  doorkeepers.  They  entered  without  let 
or  hindrance. 

After  that  there  was  what  is  known  in  theat- 
rical circles  as  a  "stage  wait."  Charlotte 
Street,  save  for  its  loafers  and  an  occasional 
belated  resident  of  some  dwelling  other  than 
those  under  observation,  lapsed  into  its  normal 
and  utterly  dismal  gloom. 


320  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

From  12 : 30  onwards,  Winter,  stationed  on 
the  south  side,  looked  at  his  watch  many  times. 
A  little  man,  mingling  with  the  disreputable 
rascals  on  the  north  side,  was  similarly  fidgety. 

A  tall,  slim  man,  wearing  a  dark  overcoat, 
who  lurked  in  a  doorway  near  Winter's  post, 
blew  the  tip  of  the  cigar  he  was  smoking  into 
a  red  glow  so  that  he  might  look  at  his  watch. 
Another  tall  man,  rather  more  powerfully 
built,  awaited  developments  with  apparent  un- 
concern. Mr.  Handyside,  in  fact,  was  in  the 
august  company  of  the  Commissioner  of  Po- 
lice, and  the  latter,  though  eminently  agree- 
able, nevertheless  observed  an  Olympian  at- 
titude. Thus  might  Jove  watch  a  gathering  in 
the  Pompic  Way! 

At  12 : 45  there  was  a  stir.  Out  of  410  and 
414  came  25  Chinamen.  They  gathered  on  the 
pavement,  and  did  not  attempt  to  walk  away, 
though  a  sudden  and  concentrated  advance  was 
made  by  the  two  sets  of  loafers,  while  the 
doors  of  the  warehouse  opposite  belched  forth 
a  startling  array  of  constables  in  uniform. 

Winter  and  Furneaux  respectively  headed 
the  contingents  from  north  and  south.  An  in- 
spector was  in  charge  of  the  central  body,  and 
even  a  Chinaman  who  had  not  been  a  day  in 
London  must  have  realized  that  the  intent  of 
these  swift-moving  detachments  was  to  cut  off 
his  escape  if  he  meant  flight.  But  not  a  China- 
man budged,  save  one,  who  seemed  to  recog- 


THE  SETTLEMENT  321 

nize  the  chief  inspector,  because  he  stepped 
forward  and  said  in  suave  tones: 

"  These  men  are  my  friends.  The  others 
are  inside.  They  are  quite  safe.  Kindly  wait 
till  one  o'clock." 

"I  must  understand  what  you  mean,  Mr.  Li 
Chang,"  said  Winter  sternly;  for  some  rea- 
son, he  distrusted  the  smooth-spoken  jute  mer- 
chant. "Why  have  you  visited  these  two 
houses,  and  not  412?  And  what  do  we  gain 
by  waiting  here  any  longer?  We  must  have 
been  seen,  and  our  purpose  guessed." 

"No,"  came  the  somewhat  surprising  an- 
swer. "No  one  in  No.  412  is  aware  of  your 
presence.  We  have  taken  care  of  that.  As 
for  the  othep  houses,  they  provide  the  simplest 
means  of  access  to  the  center  one.  Doorways 
have  been  made  in  the  cellar  walls  and  special 
staircases  built.  Consequently,  if  you  broke 
open  the  door  of  412  you  would  find  the  way 
barred  by  two  other  locked  doors,  while  the 
occupants,  if  aroused,  could  escape  from 
either  or  both  of  the  next  houses.  We  Chi- 
nese have  a  long  acquaintance  with  the  needs 
of  a  secret  society.  You  may  take  it  from 
me  that  the  obvious  way  into  or  out  of  an 
opium  den,  for  instance,  is  never  the  way 
used  by  the  habitues." 

By  this  time  the  commissioner,  Handyside, 
Furneaux  and  the  inspector  had  come  up,  and 
the  five  formed  a  little  group  in  the  center 


322  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

of  a  semicircle  of  detectives  and  police.  There 
was  absolutely  no  sign  of  life  in  any  of  the 
houses;  save  for  the  raiders  and  the  stolid 
Orientals,  the  street  itself  was  deserted. 
Many  eyes,  no  doubt,  were  peering  through 
darkened  windows,  but  the  denizens  of  Char- 
lotte Street  as  a  rule  attend  strictly  to  their 
own  personal  affairs  when  the  police  are  in 
evidence. 

"What  do  you  advise,  sir?"  said  Winter, 
addressing  the  commissioner.  "Mr.  Li  Chang 
wants  us  to  make  no  move  until  one  o'clock. 
It  is  only  a  matter  of  six  or  seven  minutes." 

"And  what  then?  Are  we  to  enter  these 
other  houses,  and  not  No.  412?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  Chinaman. 

"Have  you  left  the  doors  open?" 

"No.  They  must  be  forced.  But  there  are 
only  small  locks.  The  bolts  are  drawn." 

"The  places  are  apparently  in  complete 
darkness.  My  men  must  use  their  lamps,  and 
may  be  attacked." 

"No,"  said  Li  Chang  simply.  "There  will 
be  no  fighting.  Those  Manchu  dogs  are  help- 
less. We  have  seen  to  that." 

"But  how?  Do  you  mean  that  they  are. 
stupefied?" 

"Bound,"  said  the  Chinaman.  "Tied  hand 
and  foot." 

"Again  then,  may  I  ask,  why  wait?" 

"It  will  be  in  order,"  was  the  calm  reply. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  323 

"I  entered  into  an  arrangement  with  you.  I 
want  to  abide  by  it." 

Winter  breathed  heavily.  The  ways  of 
the  Oriental  were  not  his  ways,  but  a  bar- 
gain was  a  bargain,  so  what  more  could  be 
said? 

Suddenly,  about  two  minutes  to  one  o'clock, 
a  curious  crackling  noise  was  heard,  a  column 
of  sparks  burst  high  above  the  steep  roof  of 
No.  412,  and  the  upper  windows  of  the  op- 
posite houses  reflected  a  red  glare. 

"Good  heavens!  the  place  is  on  fire!"  cried 
Winter. 

Simultaneously  came  a  shout  from  both  ends 
of  the  street.  Men  were  running  from  the  de- 
tachment guarding  the  rear  of  the  premises  to 
say  that  a  fierce  fire  was  raging  on  the  first 
floor  back  of  No.  412. 

"Smash  in  those  three  doors!"  cried  Win- 
ter to  his  helpers.  "Drag  out  every  China- 
man you  meet!  Handcuff  them  in  threes  and 
fours!  Arrest  these  fellows  standing  outside, 
but  keep  the  two  lots  separate!" 

"Why  are  we,  your  friends,  to  be  arrested?" 
demanded  Li  Chang's  dignified  voice. 

"I'll  soon  tell  you  why,  you  slim  demon!" 
shouted  the  chief  inspector,  roused  to  anger 
by  the  consciousness  that  he  had  been  duped. 
"What  fiendish  trick  have  you  played  on  those 
wretches  penned  up  inside  there?  But  I'll 
soon  know." 


324  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

He  turned  to  the  local  officer. 

"Better  march  this  crowd  of  Chinamen 
straight  to  your  station,"  he  said.  "I'll  fol- 
low soon,  and  lay  a  charge." 

He  felt  a  claw-like  hand  on  his  arm,  and 
wild  with  vexation  though  he  was,  forced  him- 
self to  listen. 

"We  are  ready  to  go  where  you  wish," 
said  Li  Chang  calmly.  "But  spare  your  own 
men.  They  must  not  enter  No.  412.  They 
will  be  blown  to  pieces.  Stop  them!  I  shall 
not  warn  you  twice!" 

Somehow,  Winter  was  impelled  to  obey. 
The  center  door  was  already  yielding,  but  he 
rushed  forward  and  told  the  party  which 
meant  to  enter  at  that  point  to  abandon  it,  and 
reinforce  their  comrades.  A  number  of  de- 
tectives and  police  were  already  inside  the 
dark  hallways  of  Nos.  410  and  414  when  the 
very  walls  trembled  under  the  shock  of  a 
violent  explosion  in  No.  412,  which  was  quickly 
followed  by  three  others. 

A  tongue  of  flame  darted  instantly  to  a 
height  of  many  feet  above  the  topmost  storey, 
showing  that  the  series  of  explosions  had  not 
only  destroyed  the  whole  rear  section  of  the 
house,  and  thus  given  the  fire  fresh  fuel  and 
plenty  of  space  but  there  could  be  no  reason- 
able doubt  that  the  bombs,  if  bombs  they  were, 
had  themselves  been  filled  with  some  highly  in- 
flammable substance.  Thenceforth,  the  police. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  325 

could  do  nothing  beyond  keeping  at  a  distance 
the  crowds  which  soon  gathered,  and  thus 
clear  a  space  for  the  operations  of  the  fire 
brigade. 

No.  412  was  thoroughly  gutted.  Not  a  shred 
of  the  building  remained  except  the  crumbling 
walls  at  front  and  back.  Its  neighbors  were 
in  little  better  case,  and  the  firemen  devoted 
their  efforts  mainly  toward  keeping  the  disas- 
ter within  bounds. 

One  thing  was  certain.  No  human  being 
had  escaped  from  out  of  that  doomed  habita- 
tion. The  fire,  too,  had  gained  hold  with  a 
phenomenal  rapidity  which  argued  the  use  of 
petrol,  or  some  kindred  agent  of  irresistible 
potency  when  ignited. 

Winter  and  Furneaux,  accompanied  by  the 
commissioner  and  Mr.  Handyside,  walked  to 
the  local  police  station.  The  American  was 
the  only  one  who  spoke. 

"Queer  ducks,  the  Chinese!*'  he  said,  seem- 
ingly musing  aloud  rather  than  inviting  com- 
ment. "They  like  to  settle  their  own  dif- 
ferences. I  guess  we'd  feel  pretty  much  like 
that  if  we  lived  in  China." 

No  one  took  up  the  point  thus  raised.  Win- 
ter bent  a  searching,  almost  sorrowful  glance 
at  Furneaux,  but  the  little  man's  eyes  were 
fixed  on  the  ground,  as  though  he  were  deep  in 
thought. 

In  the  charge  room  of  the  police  station  the 


326  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

twenty-five  Chinamen  awaited  them.  Twenty- 
five  pairs  of  oblique  eyes  gleamed  at  the 
four  when  they  entered,  but  not  a  word  was 
spoken. 

Winter,  of  course,  singled  out  Li  Chang  for 
a  parley. 

"Now,"  he  said,  "tell  me  just  what  hap- 
pened after  you  and  these  others  went  into 
the  two  houses  in  Charlotte  Street." 

The  Chinaman  faced  him  imperturbably. 
His  manner  was  as  unemotional  and  his  words 
as  slow  and  methodical  as  if  he  were  selling 
jute  in  his  East  End  warehouse. 

"We  asked  to  be  admitted,  and  after  giving 
the  password  and  showing  the  sign  there  was 
no  difficulty,"  he  said.  "We  were  in  parties 
of  three.  As  you  probably  saw,  I  headed  one, 
which  entered  No.  410.  My  friend,  Won  Lung 
Foo,  led  the  other.  The  ivory  skulls  made 
matters  simple.  We  explained  to  the  door- 
keepers that  we  had  just  arrived  from  China, 
and  brought  messages  of  great  urgency. 
Once  inside,  we  gagged  and  bound  the  door- 
keepers. Then  we  entered  No.  412,  where  we 
knew  that  Wong  Li  Fu  would  be  smoking 
opium  with  the  remaining  fourteen." 

"Were  there  seventeen  in  the  gang,  all 
told?"  broke  in  Furneaux. 

"Seventeen  Manchus.  The  rest  are — paid 
men — of  no  account." 

"Queer,"    muttered    Furneaux,    almost    to 


THE  SETTLEMENT  327 

himself.  "The  story  begins  and  ends  with  the 
number  17!" 

Again  did  Winter  strive  to  pierce  his  col- 
league with  a  look  from  those  bulging  eyes, 
but  the  little  man  was  far  too  occupied  with 
a  singular  numerical  coincidence  to  pay  any 
heed  to  him. 

"Well,  go  on!"  he  said  impatiently,  glaring 
at  the  Chinaman. 

"We  went  to  the  big  room  at  the  back," 
continued  Li  Chang  quietly,  uttering  each 
word  separately,  and  evidently  weighing  it 
in  his  mind  to  test  its  accuracy  before  use, 
"and  found  Wong  Li  Fu.  Him  we  bound 
quickly,  and  very  securely.  The  others  we 
tied  in  twos  and  threes.  Of  course,  we  brought 
the  two  doorkeepers  to  the  same  room,  so  that 
you  should  experience  no  difficulty,  but  take 
them  all  together." 

Here  Mr.  Won  Lung  Foo  broke  in.  Evi- 
dently he  could  follow  English  better  than 
speak  it. 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "We  wantee  you  catchee 
Chineemans  all  togeller — muchee  wantee  I" 

Then  he  smiled  blandly,  and  his  tongue 
rolled  over  his  lips  as  though  some  fruit  or 
sweetmeat  had  left  a  pleasant  taste  there. 

"Then,  if  your  surprise  was  so  successful, 
what  caused  the  fire?"  said  Winter,  affecting 
a  magnificent  disregard  of  the  plain  facts. 

Li  Chang,  for  once,  permitted  his  immobile 


328  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

features  to  show  some  semblance  of  anxious 
uncertainty. 

"That,"  he  said,  "is  a  mystery  which  can, 
perhaps,  never  be  solved.  But  it  saves  your 
Government  much  trouble." 

In  those  few  words  he  expressed  quite 
clearly  the  line  he  adhered  to  throughout  a 
long  cross-examination.  Neither  Winter  nor 
the  commissioner  could  shake  him.  The  fire 
was  an  accident — the  outcome  of  an  extraor- 
dinary chance.  He  knew  nothing  whatsoever 
of  its  origin. 

After  a  protracted  debate  in  private  be- 
tween the  two  heads  of  the  Criminal  Investiga- 
tion Department,  the  names  and  addresses  of 
the  prisoners  were  recorded  and  they  were  set 
at  liberty. 

Before  Li  Chang  went  away  Furneaux  de- 
manded the  return  of  the  three  ivory  skulls, 
which  were  promptly  handed  over. 

"One  word  in  your  ear,"  murmured  the  de- 
tective, sotto  voce.  "Did  Wong  Li  Fu  recog- 
nize you!" 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  the  Chinaman. 

"And  you  spoke  to  him?" 

"Oh,  yes." 

The  eyes  of  the  two  clashed.  For  once,  Fur- 
neaux peered  deep  into  the  mind  of  an  Orien- 
tal, and  what  he  saw  there  kept  him  quiet, 
but  he  knew,  just  as  surely  as  if  he  had  been 
present,  exactly  what  Li  Chang  said  to  Wong 


THE  SETTLEMENT  329 

Li  Fu.     He   delivered  a   message   from  two 
graves  in  far-off  China. 

•  •  •  •  • 

And  that  is  all — or  nearly  all. 

The  "Charlotte  Street  Fire"  caused  only  a 
slight  sensation.  It  became  known  that  No. 
412  was  a  resort  of  Chinese  opium  fiends,  and 
the  loss  of  the  den  and  its  frequenters  was 
not  treated  as  a  National  calamity.  The  shoot- 
ing at  No.  11  Fortescue  Square  was  regarded 
much  more  seriously,  and  the  newspapers  were 
full  of  it  all  next  day. 

Thenceforth,  however,  interest  flagged.  Mr. 
Forbes  and  his  family  and  servants  left  Lon- 
don for  Scotland,  and  the  Amateur  Golf  Cham- 
pionship came  along,  so  the  escapades  of  a 
few  Chinese  fanatics  in  London  were  quickly 
forgotten. 

They  were  forgotten,  that  is,  by  most  peo- 
ple; but  one  man,  Frank  Theydon,  went  back 
to  his  flat  in  Innesmore  Mansions  to  plunge 
into  work  and  strive  vainly  to  obliterate  those 
pages  of  his  memory  charged  with  bitter-sweet 
day-dreams. 

Strive  as  he  would,  and  did,  to  bury  the 
past  under  the  duties  and  cares  of  the  present, 
the  radiant  vision  of  Evelyn  Forbes  remained 
uneffaceable  and  entrancing. 

But  he  was  built  of  tough  fiber,  and  reso- 
lutely refused  an  invitation  to  visit  the  Suth- 
erlandshire  glen  in  which  Forbes  and  his 


330  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

daughter  were  sedulously  nursing  to  health 
and  strength  the  dear  wife  and  mother  whose 
nervous  system  had  suffered  far  more  than 
she  permitted  to  become  known  under  the 
stress  and  strain  of  the  kidnaping  experience. 

Even  when  Evelyn  herself  wrote,  seconding 
her  father's  most  friendly  note,  Theydon 
pleaded  the  exigencies  of  his  profession  and 
filled  a  letter  with  an  amusing  account  of 
Bates 's  chagrin  because  he  had  failed  to  "bag 
a  Chinaman  on  his  own  account,"  having 
actually  purchased  a  pistol  and  fixed  it  in  posi- 
tion before  he  and  his  wife  quitted  the  flat. 

Three  months  passed.  On  August  9,  a  broil- 
ing morning,  Theydon  was  dejectedly  reading 
of  preparations  for  the  "Twelfth,"  when  a 
telegram  reached  him.  It  read: 

"Handyside  has  arrived  here  in  his  car. 
Come  for  the  gathering  of  the  clan.  We  take 
no  refusal.  Forbes." 

Theydon  traveled  north  that  night.  He 
reached  the  glen  in  time  for  dinner  next  even- 
ing and  passed  a  few  delightfully  miserable 
days  in  Evelyn's  company. 

At  last,  feeling  that  he  was  losing  grip  and 
might  act  foolishly,  he  announced  to  Forbes, 
one  night  when  a  glorious  moon  was  shining, 
and  he  knew  that  Evelyn  was  awaiting  him  in 
the  garden,  that  he  must  leave  for  London  next 
day. 

'Why?"  inquired  his  host.  "Has  something 


<  t 


THE  SETTLEMENT  331 

unforeseen  happened!  I  thought  you  meant 
remaining  here  till  the  end  of  the  month  at 
the  earliest." 

"I'm  sorry,"  said  Theydon,  chewing  a  cigar 
viciously  as  a  means  toward  maintaining  his 
self-control.  "I'm  sorry,  but  I  must  go." 

There  was  a  slight  pause.  Forbes  looked  at 
his  young  friend  with  those  earnest,  deep- 
seeing  eyes  of  his. 

"Is  it  a  personal  matter!"  he  went  on. 

"Yes." 

Again  there  was  a  pause.  Theydon  was  well 
aware  that  he  risked  a  grave  misunderstand- 
ing, but  that  could  not  be  avoided.  It  might 
be  even  better  so.  And  then  his  blood  ran 
cold,  because  Forbes  was  saying: 

"Are  you  leaving  us  because  of  anything 
Evelyn  has  said  or  done?" 

"No,  no!"  came  the  frenzied  answer. 
"Heaven  help  me,  why  do  you  ask  that?" 

"Heaven  helps  those  who  help  themselves," 
said  the  older  man.  "That  is  a  trite  saying, 
but  it  meets  the  case.  I  think  I  diagnose  your 
trouble,  my  boy.  You  are  in  love  with  Evelyn, 
and  dare  not  tell  her  so,  because  I  happen  to 
be  a  rich  man.  Really  I  didn't  think  you  had 
so  poor  an  opinion  of  me  as  to  believe  that 
money  or  rank  would  count  against  my  daugh- 
ter's happiness." 

He  said  other  things — kindly,  wise,  apprecia- 
tive—but Frank  Theydon  never  knew  what 


332  NUMBER  SEVENTEEN 

they  were.  He  managed  to  stammer  out  some 
words  of  gratitude  and  then  went  to  find  Eve- 
lyn. 

She  had  crossed  a  sloping  lawn  and  was 
standing  by  the  side  of  a  little  stream  that 
gurgled  and  bubbled  in  joyous  career  to  the 
nearby  loch.  She  had  thrown  a  white  shawl 
over  her  head  and  shoulders,  and  looked 
adorably  sylphlike  as  she  turned  on  hearing 
his  footsteps;  the  moonlight  shone  on  her  face 
and  was  reflected  in  her  eyes. 

"Oh,  you're  here  at  last!"  she  cried  gaily. 
"The  next  time  I  ask  any  cavalier  to  escort 
me  he  will  come  more  quickly,  I  imagine." 

He  stood  in  front  of  her,  and  stretched  out 
both  hands. 

"Evelyn,"  he  said,  "here  is  one  cavalier, 
at  any  rate,  who  offers  himself  as  an  escort  for 
life." 

The  merriment  died  out  of  her  eyes,  and  the 
quip  on  her  tongue  failed  her.  Greatly  daring, 
her  lover  took  her  in  his  arms.  Through  the 
open  windows  of  the  drawing  room  floated  the 
tender  refrain  of  a  ballad.  Mrs.  Forbes  was 
singing,  and  sweet  words  blended  with  sweet 
music  in  the  still  air. 

Then  their  lips  met,  and  the  dark  glen  be- 
came an  earthly  Paradise. 


THE  END 


H  i 


